The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Persistence \Per*sist"ence\, Persistency \Per*sist"en*cy\, n.
   [See Persistent.]
   1. The quality or state of being persistent; staying or
      continuing quality; hence, in an unfavorable sense,
      doggedness; obstinacy.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The continuance of an effect after the cause which first
      gave rise to it is removed; as:
      (a) (Physics) The persistence of motion.
      (b) (Physiol.) Visual persistence, or persistence of the
          visual impression; auditory persistence, etc.
          [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

persistence
    n 1: the property of a continuous and connected period of time
         [syn: continuity, persistence]
    2: persistent determination [syn: doggedness, perseverance,
       persistence, persistency, tenacity, tenaciousness,
       pertinacity]
    3: the act of persisting or persevering; continuing or repeating
       behavior; "his perseveration continued to the point where it
       was no longer appropriate" [syn: perseverance,
       persistence, perseveration]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

170 Moby Thesaurus words for "persistence":
   abidingness, accordance, adhesiveness, age, antiquity, application,
   assiduity, assiduousness, bulldog tenacity, bullheadedness, calm,
   changelessness, cohesiveness, commitment, concentration,
   consistency, consonance, constancy, continualness, continuance,
   continuation, continuity, correspondence, course, decidedness,
   decision, decisiveness, dedication, defeat of time,
   defiance of time, definiteness, demandingness, determinateness,
   determination, determinedness, devotion, diligence, diuturnity,
   dogged perseverance, doggedness, durability, durableness, duration,
   earnestness, endurance, engrossment, equability, equanimity,
   equilibrium, evenness, exigency, extension, fidelity, firmness,
   fixedness, frozenness, gluiness, glutinosity, grit, gumminess,
   hardening, homogeneity, immobility, immovability, immovableness,
   immutability, importunacy, importunateness, importunity,
   indefatigability, industriousness, industry, insistence,
   insistency, invariability, invariableness, inveteracy, lastingness,
   lengthening, long standing, long-lastingness, long-livedness,
   longevity, loyalty, maintenance, monolithism, obduracy, obstinacy,
   patience, patience of Job, perdurability, perennation, permanence,
   permanency, perpetualness, perpetuation, perpetuity, perseverance,
   persistency, pertinaciousness, pertinacity, plodding, pluck,
   plugging, preoccupation, pressingness, pressure, progress,
   progression, prolongation, protraction, purpose, purposefulness,
   pursuance, quiescence, relentlessness, repetition, resoluteness,
   resolution, resolve, resolvedness, retention, rigidity, run,
   sedulity, sedulousness, self-will, seriousness, sincerity,
   single-mindedness, singleness of purpose, slogging, snugness,
   solidity, stability, stamina, standing, stasis, staying power,
   steadfastness, steadiness, stick-to-itiveness, stickiness,
   straight course, stubbornness, survival, survivance,
   sustained action, sustenance, tackiness, tenaciousness, tenacity,
   tightness, tirelessness, torpor, total commitment, toughness,
   unchangeability, unchangingness, uniformity, uninterrupted course,
   unity, unremittingness, unruffledness, unswerving attention,
   urgency, viscidity, viscosity, way, will



The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (30 December 2018):

persistence
persistent

   1.  A property of a programming language where
   created objects and variables continue to exist and retain
   their values between runs of the program.

   2.  The length of time a phosphor dot on the screen
   of a cathode ray tube will remain illuminated after it has
   been energised by the electron beam.  Long-persistence
   phosphors reduce flicker, but generate ghost-like images that
   linger on screen for a fraction of a second.

   (1994-11-09)