diligence
diligence Lexical Profile
diligence Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Careful, persistent work or effort applied to a task or undertaking.
"Her remarkable diligence in researching the historical archives uncovered several previously unknown letters."
The degree of care and caution legally required of a person in a given situation, especially to avoid causing harm or to verify facts before a financial transaction.
"The board of directors exercised all necessary diligence before approving the corporate merger."
A large, public four-wheeled stagecoach formerly used in Europe, particularly in France, for transporting passengers and mail along regular routes.
"In nineteenth-century travelogues, passengers often described the bumpy journey aboard a horse-drawn diligence crossing the Alpine passes."
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English via Old French from the Latin noun 'diligentia', meaning attentiveness or carefulness. It derives from the verb 'diligere' ('to value highly' or 'to take delight in'), literally meaning 'to choose apart' from 'di-' (apart) and 'legere' (to choose or gather).