perseverative

Variant of perseveration

noun

  1. the tendency of an idea, impression, experience, etc. to persist or recur, or of an individual to continue a particular mental activity without the ability to shift easily to another at a change in stimulus
  2. Psychiatry the persistent and pathological repetition of a verbal or motor response, often seen in organic brain disease and schizophrenia

Origin: L perseveratio < perseveratus: see perseverate

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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