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insist - 4 dictionary results

in⋅sist

  [in-sist]
Use insist in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to be emphatic, firm, or resolute on some matter of desire, demand, intention, etc.: He insists on checking every shipment.
2. to lay emphasis in assertion: to insist on the justice of a claim.
3. to dwell with earnestness or emphasis (usually fol. by on or upon): to insist on a point in a discussion.
–verb (used with object)
4. to assert or maintain firmly: He insists that he saw the ghosts.
5. to demand or persist in demanding: I insist that you see this thing through.
Origin:
1580–90; < L insistere to stand still on, persist in, equiv. to in- in- 2 + sistere to stand, make stand, reduplicated deriv. from base of stāre to stand

Related forms:
in⋅sist⋅er, noun
in⋅sist⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
5. urge, require.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To insist
in·sist   (ĭn-sĭst')   
v.   in·sist·ed, in·sist·ing, in·sists

v.   intr.
To be firm in a demand or course; refuse to yield: insisted on giving me a second helping.
v.   tr.
To assert or demand (something) vehemently and persistently: We insist that you accept these gifts.

[Latin īnsistere, to persist : in-, on; see in-2 + sistere, to stand; see stā- in Indo-European roots.]
in·sis'tence, in·sis'ten·cy n., in·sist'er n., in·sist'ing·ly adv.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Insist

In*sist"\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Insisted; p. pr. & vb. n. Insisting.] [F. insister, L. insistere to set foot upon, follow, persist; pref. in- in + sistere to stand, cause to stand. See Stand.]

1. To stand or rest; to find support; -- with in, on, or upon. [R.] --Ray.

2. To take a stand and refuse to give way; to hold to something firmly or determinedly; to be persistent, urgent, or pressing; to persist in demanding; -- followed by on, upon, or that; as, he insisted on these conditions; he insisted on going at once; he insists that he must have money.

Insisting on the old prerogative. --Shak.

Without further insisting on the different tempers of Juvenal and Horace. --Dryden.

Syn: Insist, Persist.

Usage: Insist implies some alleged right, as authority or claim. Persist may be from obstinacy alone, and either with or against rights. We insist as against others; we persist in what exclusively relates to ourselves; as, he persisted in that course; he insisted on his friend's adopting it. --C. J. Smith.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : insist
Spanish: insistir,
German: bestehen auf,
Japanese: 主張する
More Translations »

insist 
1586, from L. insistere "persist, dwell upon, stand upon," from in- "upon" + sistere "take a stand" (see assist). Insistence is attested from 1436.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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