These words all refer to something that goes on existing. Persist at its mildest can indicate the lingering on of something beyond the point where one would expect it to terminate: A dwindling hope of restoring the monarchy persisted in France even into this century. At its most forceful, the word suggests a tenacious will to exist, as in a hardy or stubborn struggle against odds: a species that persisted despite the coming of floods, glaciers, famine and plague. Less favourably, the word can indicate an annoying or obstinate insistence that goes on without pause.

• He persisted in quibbling about fine points in the contract long after everyone else was satisfied; Why must you persist in bothering us with demands for money?

Continue is much more general than persist ; it is also less definite, since its neutrality is uncoloured by implications of any sort. The word refers to any on-going process after its start and before its conclusion: an announcement that the bombings would continue ; the hope that he would be able to continue at school; The riot continued to rage out of control for another day. Sometimes, the word can specifically point to a resumption after a halt: Please continue with what you were doing before I came in. Last refers specifically to something that continues to exist, particularly when this is not necessarily inevitable: the few masterpieces from each age that will last for centuries. At its most literal, the word can refer to remaining viable or alive, or it can be used in connection with measuring duration: perfume with a scent that lasts a long time; He lasted out the fever but succumbed to a minor infection; an avant-garde film that lasts eight hours.

Endure can be used as a more formal substitute for last: a body of poetry that will endure . The word has richer associations when it becomes transitive; in this case, it suggests the same dauntless struggle for existence against odds that persist can refer to, but here no possibly interfering negative overtones of obstinance obtrude, since endure is almost wholly favourable in tone: a patriot willing to endure torture and even death to defend his country; the traditional siesta that helped us to endure the broiling summer days of the tropics. Intransitively, survive indicates continued existence: Somehow, we survive . Often, the word implies the successful overcoming of an ordeal or threat to existence: Of those wounded in the battle, only three survived . Transitively, survive compares with endure , except that the latter suggests a strength and permanence that can overcome obstacles intact, whereas survive is open to the implication of greater frailty or subsequent impairment: Although many died or survived only as physical or mental wrecks, a few of the hardiest explorers were able to endure every punishment the untracked jungles could offer them.

Weather is restricted to a transitive sense that points to the surviving of crises or exposures to danger. The word may apply to lasting out difficulty without change or impairment, but more often the word does suggest an altered state, though this may often be one of increased maturity or mellowness: She weathered every conflict in their marriage without the slightest difficulty; an increased sense of self-confidence among university students who successfully weather the trials and tribulations of their first year; people who weather a first heart attack with only slight impairment.