Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Diligence
Dil′i-gence
,Noun.
[F.
diligence
, L. diligentia
.] 1.
The quality of being diligent; carefulness; careful attention; – the opposite of negligence.
2.
Interested and persevering application; devoted and painstaking effort to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduity in service.
That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is
diligence
. Shakespeare
3.
(Scots Law)
Process by which persons, lands, or effects are seized for debt; process for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or the production of writings.
To do one’s diligence
, give diligence
, use diligence
to exert one's self; to make interested and earnest endeavor.
Syn. – Attention; industry; assiduity; sedulousness; earnestness; constancy; heed; heedfulness; care; caution. –
Diligence
, Industry
. Industry has the wider sense of the two, implying an habitual devotion to labor for some valuable end, as knowledge, property, etc. Diligence denotes earnest application to some specific object or pursuit, which more or less directly has a strong hold on one's interests or feelings. A man may be diligent for a time, or in seeking some favorite end, without meriting the title of industrious. Such was the case with Fox, while Burke was eminent not only for diligence, but industry; he was always at work, and always looking out for some new field of mental effort. The sweat of
But for the end it works to.
industry
would dry and die,But for the end it works to.
Shakespeare
Diligence
and accuracy are the only merits which an historical writer ascribe to himself. Gibbon.
Diˊli-gence′
,Noun.
[F.]
A four-wheeled public stagecoach, used in France.
Webster 1828 Edition
Diligence
DILIGENCE
,Noun.
1.
Steady application in business of any kind; constant effort to accomplish what is undertaken; exertion of body or mind without unnecessary delay or sloth; due attention; industry; assiduity.Diligence is the philosophers stone that turns every thing to gold.
Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. 2 Peter 1.
2.
Care; heed; heedfulness.Keep thy heart with all diligence. Proverbs 4.
3.
The name of a stage-coach, used in France.Definition 2024
diligence
diligence
English
Noun
diligence (plural diligences)
- combination of carefulness and long-term effort (often used to refer to only one of these)
- carefulness, for example due diligence
- long-term effort, working hard, the qualities of a hard worker, including conscientiousness, determination, and perseverance
- A public stage-coach. (19th century, now used only in reference to France or other European countries including Great Britain.)
- 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume 1, Chapter V:
- Continuing thus, I came at length opposite to the inn at which the various diligences and carriages usually stopped.
- 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes:
- Being in a civilised country of stage-coaches, I determined to sell my lady friend and be off by the diligence that afternoon.
- 1818, Mary Shelley, Frankenstein, Volume 1, Chapter V:
- (law, Scotland) The process by which persons, lands, or effects are seized for debt; process for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or the production of writings.
Synonyms
Translations
carefulness
qualities of a hard worker, including conscientiousness, determination, perseverance
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public stage-coach
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Derived terms
Anagrams
French
Etymology
diligence
From Latin diligentia.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /di.li.ʒɑ̃s/
Noun
diligence f (countable and uncountable, plural diligences)
- (uncountable) diligence, conscientiousness
- (uncountable) haste
- (countable) stage-coach, diligence