INSIST

insist, assert

(verb) postulate positively and assertively; “The letter asserts a free society”

importune, insist

(verb) beg persistently and urgently; “I importune you to help them”

insist, take a firm stand

(verb) be emphatic or resolute and refuse to budge; “I must insist!”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

insist (third-person singular simple present insists, present participle insisting, simple past and past participle insisted)

(with on or upon or (that + ordinary verb form)) To hold up a claim emphatically.

(sometimes, with on or upon or (that + subjunctive)) To demand continually that something happen or be done.

(obsolete, chiefly, geometry) To stand (on); to rest (upon); to lean (upon).

Anagrams

• INSTIs, sit-ins, sits in

Source: Wiktionary

In*sist", v. i. [imp. & p. p. Insisted; p. pr. & vb. n. Insisting.] Etym: [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.

– 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition