Instare

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To press forward urgently and persistently toward a goal or demand; to continue resolutely or insistently in an action or pursuit; to maintain immediate and intense focus on an objective
2. To assert or urge persistently with increasing urgency; to press on steadfastly in doing something; to persist in making a demand or appeal without pause
3. To pursue or advance with relentless intensity and earnestness; to keep insistently pressing for attention or action; to steadfastly continue in a course of action without hesitation

Etymology: Latin "instare" is built from "in-", meaning "upon" or "at", and "stare", meaning "to stand." Literally it means "to stand upon" something, and from that physical posture grew the sense of pressing against a person or a task. A Roman who "instabat" was leaning on someone, insisting, refusing to give way. The same root gave English some words that have drifted far from that pressure. "Instant" once described something urgent or pressing before it came to mean a moment in time, the sense of being right there at hand. "Instance" carried the idea of an urgent request or insistence, and its modern sense of an example comes from a case brought forward to press a point in argument. Both trace back to the Latin present participle "instans," "pressing" or "impending."

Synonyms: approach, urge, press, persist, demand

Antonyms: withdraw, retreat, recede, cease, desist