diligent

Definitions

di- (apart) + lig (a form of leg 'choose, pick') + -ent. Latin diligere literally meant 'to single out, pick apart from the rest' — and from there 'to value, to love.' A diligent person is one who 'picks carefully,' attending to each detail rather than rushing. The careful-choosing sense became steady, attentive effort.

Why It Means This

The link to 'choose' is buried but real. Latin diligere ('single out > value') gave us both diligent and the noun diligence. The word's hidden idea is selectivity: you can't be diligent by doing everything at once; you attend carefully to one thing at a time.

Example Sentences

• 1.

  She was a diligent student who never missed a deadline.

• 2.

  After diligent research, the team finally found the source of the error.

• 3.

  He was diligent in checking every figure before the report went out.