assiduous

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin assiduus, from assidere (“to sit down to”), from ad- (“to”) + sedere (“to sit”).

Cognate (via assidere) to assess.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /əˈsɪdjuːəs/, /əˈsɪd͡ʒuːəs/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əˈsɪd͡ʒu.əs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

assiduous (comparative more assiduous, superlative most assiduous)

1. Hard-working, diligent or regular (in attendance or work); industrious.

   Synonyms: meticulous, diligent, sedulous; see also Thesaurus:industrious

   • 1831, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 2, in The Surgeon's Daughter:

     He was officious in the right time and place, quiet as a lamb when his patron seemed inclined to study or to muse, active and assiduous to assist or divert him whenever it seemed to be wished.

   • 1880, Henry James, chapter 33, in Washington Square‎^[1], Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, page 249:

     He died after three weeks' illness, during which Mrs. Penniman, as well as his daughter, had been assiduous at his bedside.

   • 1917, P. G. Wodehouse, “Bill the Bloodhound”, in The Man With Two Left Feet and Other Stories:

     A good deal of assiduous attention had enabled Henry to win this place in her affections.

   • 2009 July 6, Will Pavia, “Allen Klein, accountant turned manager of the Beatles, dies at 77”, in The Times, UK:

     Klein rose to prominence in the 1960s by assiduous application of accounting methods to the music industry.

   • 2023 June 15, Manohla Dargis, “‘Asteroid City’ Review: Our Town and Country”, in The New York Times‎^[2], →ISSN:

     “Asteroid City,” the latest from Wes Anderson, is filled with the assiduous visuals, mythic faces and charming curiosities that you expect from this singular filmmaker.

Usage notes

• Since the 18th century, this term has sometimes carried a connotation of servility.

Derived terms

• assiduity
• assiduously
• assiduousness
• unassiduous

 

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sed- (0 c, 66 e)

Translations

hard-working, diligent

• Armenian: աշխատասեր (hy) (ašxataser)
• Bulgarian: усърден (bg) (usǎrden), прилежен (bg) (priležen), старателен (bg) (staratelen)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 努力嘅 (nou⁵ lik⁶ ge³)

• Czech: pilný (cs), pečlivý (cs), svědomitý
• Dutch: ijverig (nl), vlijtig (nl), betrouwbaar (nl)
• Esperanto: asidua (eo)
• Finnish: ahkera (fi), uuttera (fi)
• French: assidu (fr)
• German: fleißig (de), geflissen, gewissenhaft (de)
• Greek: επιμελής (el) m or f (epimelís), εργατικός (el) m (ergatikós) (industrious)
• Hungarian: kötelességtudó (hu)
• Ido: asidua (io)
• Indonesian: tekun (id), giat (id), rajin (id), kerja keras
• Italian: assiduo (it)
• Japanese: 真面目 (ja) (まじめ, majime)
• Korean: 부지런한 (bujireonhan)
• Polish: gorliwy (pl), sumienny (pl), wytrwały (pl)
• Portuguese: assíduo (pt), trabalhador (pt), diligente (pt)
• Romanian: asiduu (ro), stăruitor (ro) m or n, harnic (ro) m or n
• Russian: стара́тельный (ru) (starátelʹnyj), приле́жный (ru) (priléžnyj), усе́рдный (ru) (usérdnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: leanmhainneach
• Serbo-Croatian: prilježno (sh) n, usrdno (sh) n, marno (sh) n
• Spanish: asiduo (es), diligente (es)
• Swedish: flitig (sv)