Etymologically
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assiduus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [asˈsɪ.du.ʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [asˈsiː.du.us][1]

Forms

assiduus (feminine assidua, neuter assiduum, superlative assiduissimus, adverb assiduē); first/second-declension adjective[1] It is also spelled adsiduus.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin assideō (“to sit by”) + -uus, formed like continuus from contineō.[2][3][1] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of sedeō (“to sit”), which goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sed-eh₁- (“to be seated”).[4]

Roman scholars explained the old legal sense “wealthy” differently: Aelius, as quoted by Cicero, and Quintilian and Gellius derived it from as and dō (“to give”), “paying in coin”.[3] Lewis & Short follow them and give the noun “taxpayer” an entry of its own.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record is the Twelve Tables: adsiduō vindex adsiduus estō, “for a landholder the guarantor shall be a landholder”.[2][3][5] There it describes a citizen with property, the opposite of a prōlētārius.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Cicero says that Servius Tullius called the rich assiduī, and Gellius uses the old contrast in a figure: a first-class writer is assiduus, not prōlētārius.[3][2]

The common sense comes from sitting by something: Plautus speaks of giving constant attention to the forum, Cato of men always at hand, and Cicero of a son who stayed on the family estates.[2][3] From there it described anything persistent or unceasing: a fever that does not let up, rakes in constant use, the restless sea in Virgil.[2] In Pliny the Younger it can mean simply ordinary or everyday.[2] English assiduous, first recorded in the 1530s, comes from it.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it of a landholding citizen.[2][4][5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of constant attention.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a son who stays on the estates.[3][5]
  • 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of the ceaseless sea.[2][5]
  • c. 165 AD – Gellius calls a first-class writer assiduus.[2][3][5]
  • 1530s – English assiduous is formed from it.[6]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. (of citizens) Holding land, wealthy, as opposed to the prōlētāriī;[2][3] (figurative) first-class.[2][3]
  2. Constantly present, regularly in attendance.[2][3]
  3. Persistent, unremitting; busy, diligent.[2][3][7]
  4. (of actions and states) Continual, incessant;[2][3][1] (of water) restless.[2][3][1]
  5. Commonplace, everyday.[2]

Word family

  • assiduitās
  • assiduō
  • assiduē

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f 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 q r s Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson