insist

Definition

To hold up a claim emphatically.

Etymology

Partly from Middle French insister, from Latin īnsistere; and partly from a back-formation from insistence. Compare typologically from the same PIE root Bulgarian настоявам (nastojavam), Russian наста́ивать (nastáivatʹ).

Example Sentences

• "The defendant insisted on his innocence."
• "I insist that my secretary dresses nicely."
• "But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud,[…]. We began to tell her about Mohair and the cotillon, and of our point of observation from the Florentine galleried porch, and she insisted she would join us there."