negligente

Forms

negligente m or f (masculine and feminine plural negligentes)^[1] 13th-century texts from Aragon and Navarre write negligent, and the Calila e Dimna and the Reglas of Santiago have nigligente.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin negligens (“careless”), the present participle of neglegō (“to disregard, neglect”).^[4][1][5] The Spanish form follows the Latin variant spelled with ⟨i⟩.^[1][4] The Latin verb is formed from nec (“not”) and legō (“to choose, gather”);^[6][1] Wiktionary also considers a Proto-Italic *legō (“to care”).^[6][1]

Corominas lists it among the learned words of the family of elegir, beside diligente, which goes back to the related Latin dīligō.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–1250) uses it of the market inspector: Si el almotaçen en aquestas cosas que dichas son, negligente fuere “if the inspector is negligent in these things that have been said”.^[3] DEMel cites negligentes from the Fuero of Plasencia (1221), and the Aragonese Fueros de Aragón of 1247 have negligent o pereçoso “negligent or idle”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The word starts in legal texts, for an official or heir who fails in a duty;^[8][3] Alfonso X's laws say a bishop must endow a church himself por que fue negligent “because he was negligent”.^[8][3] Corominas dates it only from Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas (died 1600), much later than these records.^[5][9] Nebrija about 1495 glosses it as cosa descuidada, Latin negligens.^[10][11] The Autoridades of 1734 defines it as careless, remiss and lacking diligence, and the Academy has kept much of that wording.^[12][13][4] From 1884 the Academy notes its use as a noun too.^[14]

Today it describes a person who does not put due care into what they do, especially in a duty, and an action that shows that lack of care.^[15][16] Moliner also applies it to a careless posture or attitude.^[16]

Timeline

• 1218–1250 – the Fuero de Zorita de los Canes has negligente.^[3]
• 1221 – negligentes in the Fuero of Plasencia.^[2]
• 1247 – the Fueros de Aragón have the Aragonese form negligent.^[3]
• 1251 – the Calila e Dimna has nigligentes (in a later copy).^[3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives the Latin equivalent negligens.^[10]
• 1517 – first record from the Americas, in Santo Domingo, spelt neglijente.^[17]
• Before 1600 – the first record Corominas gives, in Sánchez de las Brozas.^[5]
• 1734 – the Autoridades defines it as careless and lacking diligence.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. negligent, careless (descuidado); also used as a noun: Fue un conductor negligente.^[4][1]
2. Lacking application or diligence; also used as a noun.^[4][15]

Word family

• negligentemente

Related words

• negligencia
• diligente
• elegir
• Latin neglegō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. negligente
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. negligente
4. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. negligente
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 551
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. neglegō
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. diligente
8. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. negligente
9. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2014), Lexicón etimológico y semántico del latín y de las voces actuales que proceden de raíces latinas o griegas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 361
10. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 386
11. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. negligente
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 660
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 496
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 736
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. negligente
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. negligente
17. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. negligente