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sedulus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word sedulus

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Derivation
First attested
81–43 BC, Cicero
Ultimate origin
Latin (dolus)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin dolus
Latin sedulus
Latin sedulitas
Latin dolosus
Latin subdolus

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ˈseː.dʊ.ɫʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ˈsɛː.du.lus][1]

Forms

sēdulus (feminine sēdula, neuter sēdulum, adverb sēdulō); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

The OLD derives it from the adverb sēdulō (“sincerely, diligently”), which it and de Vaan explain as from Latin sē- (“without”) + dolus (“guile”), an old ablative phrase *sē dolōd “without malice”.[2][3][4] Donatus, Servius, Nonius and Isidore already gave this derivation.[5] Lewis & Short call it an error and connect the word with sedeō (“to sit”), as “sitting fast” at a task, like assiduus;[5][1] Wiktionary also gives both explanations.[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler dates it from Cicero,[6] who in the Brutus contrasts eloquent speakers with merely industrious ones.[5] The adverb sēdulō is older, in Plautus.[3]

Semantic evolution

It means attentive, painstaking, busy or diligent, mostly in poetry: Horace's attentive serving boy and eager spectator, Tibullus' busy bee, Ovid's industrious old Baucis and the careful nurse.[2][5] Church Latin glosses it earnest, diligent, careful, zealous.[7] English sedulous (1530s) is from it.[4]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of industrious speakers.[5][6]
  • 65–8 BC – Horace of an attentive servant.[5][6]
  • c. 55–19/18 BC – Tibullus of the busy bee.[5][6]
  • 1530s – English sedulous is formed from it.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Attentive, painstaking, diligent, busy, zealous, sedulous.[2][5][1]

Word family

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ 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
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson

Derived terms

Cite this entry

“Sedulus.” Etymologically, 19 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/la/sedulus. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·