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diligence

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Etymology and origin of the English word diligence

Pronunciation

  • /ˈdɪlɪd͡ʒəns/[1]

diligence1 industriousness

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1340 Ayenbite of Inwyt
Borrowed from
Old French diligence via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *leg-
Etymology tree of diligence1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin diligens
Latin diligentia
English diligence
From the same root · diligence1
Latin diligenter ← diligens

Etymology

The quality is inherited from Middle English diligence, also deligence,[2][3] borrowed from Old French diligence (“attention, care; haste, speed”),[4][5][3] also Anglo-Norman diligence (from about 1270),[6][7] and directly borrowed from Latin dīligentia (“attentiveness, carefulness”),[4][5][8] from dīligēns (“attentive, assiduous, careful”),[4][5][9] the present participle of dīligō (“to value highly, love, choose”).[5][4][10] The Latin verb is formed from dis- (“apart”) and legō (“to choose, gather”),[5][4][10] from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).[4] The OED compares Old Occitan diligencia, Spanish diligencia and Italian diligenza.[3] Neglect also comes from legō.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Careful attention, heedfulness or caution: 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt,[3][5] with phrases such as to do diligence, to take care.[3] The Oxford Dictionary of English also gives "close attention, caution" as the original sense.[8]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline sums up the development of the Latin and English words as going from "love" through "attentiveness" and "carefulness" to "steady effort".[4] The main modern sense, constant and earnest effort, is first recorded about 1374 in Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde,[3] while "careful attention" lasted until the late 18th century.[3][11] In the 15th to 17th centuries a diligence was also an effort, and to do one's diligence to do one's utmost;[3] the King James Bible has "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me", quoted by Johnson (1755).[12] From the French sense "haste" the word also meant speed or dispatch (1490–1781), the sense that gave diligence2.[3][4] The legal sense, the care due from a person in a given situation, is recorded from 1622,[3][4] and in Scots law diligence is the process or warrant by which goods or lands are seized for debt (from 1568).[3][13]

Timeline

  • 1340 – careful attention, caution, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.[3][5]
  • c. 1374 – earnest and persistent effort, in Chaucer.[3]
  • 1443 – a diligence, an effort (obsolete by 1652).[3]
  • 1490 – speed, haste (obsolete by 1781).[3]
  • 1568 – in Scots law, a writ of execution for debt.[3]
  • 1622 – in law, the care due from a person.[3][4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. Steady, careful and persevering effort; industry: The editor checked every reference with great diligence.[14][7][3]
  2. Proper attention or care.[14][7]
  3. (law) The degree of care required of a person in a given situation, as in due diligence.[14][3]
  4. (Scots law) The legal process, or the warrant, by which a debtor's goods or lands are seized.[3][13]
  5. (obsolete, 1340–1796) Careful attention; caution.[3][11]

Word family

  • nondiligence
  • overdiligence
  • due diligence

diligence2 stagecoach

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing, Clipping
First attested
1742 Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, letter
Borrowed from
French diligence
Ultimate origin
Latin dīligentia

Etymology

The coach is borrowed from French diligence, short for carrosse de diligence (“coach of speed”),[11][8][9][2][15] a particular use of French diligence in its sense "haste, speed".[3][7][4] That noun is from Old French diligence (“diligence, dispatch”), from Latin dīligentia.[15] The word is also found in German and Dutch, and as Italian diligenza and Spanish diligencia.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A public stagecoach: 1742, in a letter of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu;[3][7] the Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date it to the late 17th century.[11][8]

Semantic evolution

Diligences also ran in Great Britain in the 18th century, as in Smollett's Roderick Random (1748), but later the word was used only of France and other continental countries.[3] It could also stand for the passengers of a diligence (1887).[3] Etymonline notes the short form dilly.[4]

Timeline

  • 1742 – a public stagecoach.[3][7]
  • 1748 – of a British coach (obsolete by 1849).[3]
  • 1887 – the passengers of a diligence.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (historical) A large, closed, horse-drawn public stagecoach used for long journeys, especially in France.[7][11][3]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  14. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  15. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Diligence.” Etymologically, 31 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/diligence. Accessed 31 Oct. 2026.

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