diligence

Forms

diligence f (countable and uncountable, plural diligences)^[1] Old French diligensce (late 12th or early 13th century), Middle French dilligence (1489–1491).^[2] Anglo-Norman also wrote dilligence and dilligensse.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin dīligentia (“scrupulous care, attentiveness”),^[2][4][5] the noun of dīligēns (“attentive, careful”),^[4][6] the present participle used as an adjective of dīligō (“to value, esteem, love”), formed of dis- and legō (“to gather, choose”).^[5] Bloch and Wartburg date the noun, like the adjective diligent, to about 1180.^[7]

Littré compares Old Occitan diligencia, Spanish diligencia and Italian diligenzia.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record, in the phrase par grant diligensce in the Old French Dialogue Grégoire (late 12th or early 13th century), has the Latin sense “care, thoroughness”.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

From “care” the word moved, like the rest of its group, to “haste, eagerness”, recorded in Commynes's faire dilligence (1489–1491).^[2][5] Bloch and Wartburg note that the Latin sense “eager care” is frequent in the 17th century, while “haste”, the main sense in their day, appears early.^[7] In legal procedure it came to mean a prosecution or a request (1690, Furetière), and the Civil Code of 1804 has à la diligence de “at the request of”.^[2][5]

The phrase carrosse de diligence (early 17th century) named a fast coach, and its shortening gave diligence “public horse-drawn coach running a regular passenger service” (1680, Richelet), felt as a separate word.^[5][2][7][4] The coach belongs to the 17th–19th centuries, but the word revived with the stories of the American West, where the stagecoach attack is a familiar theme of westerns.^[5] In the 19th century it also named a railway carriage (about 1830–1870), a sense now gone.^[5][2]

English took diligence “constant effort” in the mid-14th century from Old French and Latin.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – Par grant diligensce “with great care” in the Dialogue Grégoire.^[2]
• c. 1270 – First Anglo-Norman record.^[3]
• 1489–1491 – Commynes writes faire dilligence “to make haste”.^[2]
• early 17th century – Carrosse de diligence “fast coach”.^[5][4]
• 1680 – Richelet records diligence “public coach”.^[2][4]
• 1690 – Furetière gives the legal sense “prosecution, request”.^[2][6]
• 1804 – À la diligence de “at the request of” in the Civil Code.^[2][5]
• 1857 – Used of a railway passenger carriage.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (dated) Careful, thorough application to a task.^[10][2]
2. (law) À la diligence de: at the request or on the initiative of someone.^[10][2]
3. (dated or literary) Eager haste in doing something: faire diligence “to hurry”.^[10][1]
4. (obsolete) En diligence: quickly.^[10]
5. (historical) A horse-drawn stagecoach carrying passengers on a regular service: la diligence partait de l’auberge à l’aube.^[10][2]

Related words

• diligent
• diligemment
• diligenter
• Latin dīligentia
• English diligence

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
4. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert