Etymologically
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negligent

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Pronunciation

  • /ˈnɛɡ.lɪ.d͡ʒənt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English necligent, also negligent and necgligent,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman negligent, also necligent,[4][5][6][7] and directly borrowed from Latin negligēns (“careless, heedless”), also neglegēns.[4][6][2] The Old French word is recorded from the late 12th century.[4][5] The Latin word is the present participle of neglegō (“to neglect”),[4][6][7][8] literally "not to pick up", from nec (“not”) and legō (“to pick up, select”), from Proto-Indo-European *leg- (“to collect, gather”).[6] The OED notes that the form negligō, continued in the Romance languages, was somewhat less common in classical Latin than the usual form, which, according to Ernout and Meillet, prevailed because it was a relatively recent compound, although the verb and its participle are recorded from Plautus and Terence.[4] It compares Spanish negligente (13th century), Catalan negligent (1272), Italian negligente (before 1294) and Portuguese negligente (1361).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of people, not attending to their duty or to what ought to be done: before 1382, in the early version of the Wycliffite Bible,[4] late 14th century in Etymonline, in the form necligent.[6]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English word also meant slothful or idle, and heedless of danger or consequences.[2] Chaucer used it nine times, always spelled necligent, for "negligent, slothful",[9] and the sense "heedless, indifferent", chiefly with of, lasted from about 1390, in his Melibeus, to 1841.[4] The word was applied to actions and conduct from about 1475, in Lydgate;[4] Etymonline dates this to about 1500.[6] Its legal use, failing to take reasonable care or to fulfil a duty of care, is recorded of conduct in 1738 and of people in 1862.[4][10] Johnson (1755) defined it as "careless; heedless; habitually inattentive".[11] A negligent was also a man's wig fashionable in the second quarter of the 18th century, recorded in Goldsmith in 1762.[4] Merriam-Webster and Collins also record a sense of easy, nonchalant carelessness.[8][12]

Timeline

  • before 1382 – of people, inattentive to duty.[4]
  • c. 1390 – heedless, indifferent, chiefly with of (obsolete by 1841).[4]
  • before 1460 – noun, a negligent person.[4]
  • c. 1475 – of actions or conduct, careless.[4][6]
  • 1738 – in law, of conduct, failing to take reasonable care.[4]
  • 1762 – noun, a kind of man's wig.[4]
  • 1862 – in law, of a person, failing to show reasonable care.[4]
  • 1981 – negligent discharge, the careless firing of a gun.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Failing to give proper care or attention to one's duties; neglectful: The landlord was negligent about repairs.[4][8][12]
  2. (law) Failing to take the care that a reasonable person would take in the same circumstances: a negligent motorist.[4][8][10]
  3. Carelessly easy in manner; nonchalant.[8][12]

Noun

  1. (archaic) A negligent person.[8][4]

Word family

  • negligently
  • nonnegligent
  • overnegligent
  • unnegligent

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  10. ^ a b Garner, Bryan A., ed. (2004), Black's Law Dictionary, 8th ed., St. Paul, Minn.: Thomson West
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins