Per-sĭst'ent, a.
a. [Lat. persistens, p. pr. of persistere, Fr. persistant, It. & Sp. persistente. See PERSIST.]
Sense 1. Inclined to persist or hold firm; tenacious; fixed; immovable; persistive. “Persistent as they have been.” I. Taylor.
Modred’s narrow, foxy face. Heart-hiding smile, and gray, persistent eye. Tennyson.
Sense 2. (Bot.) Remaining beyond the period when parts of the same kind commonly fall;—said of the parts of plants, and opposed to caducous.