diligent

English

Plate 1 of classical virtues: Diligence. She is holding a whip and spurs, signifying a drive to steadfastly move forward with one's means.

Etymology

From Middle English diligent, from Old French diligent, from Latin dīligēns (“careful, attentive, diligent”), present participle of dīligō (“to love, esteem much”, literally “to choose, select”), from dī-, dis- (“apart”) + legō (“to choose”); see elect and select.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪlɪdʒənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

diligent (comparative more diligent, superlative most diligent)

1. Performing with industrious concentration; hard-working and focused.

   Scientists are very diligent in their work.

Alternative forms

• deligent (archaic)

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:industrious

Derived terms

• diligently
• diligentness
• overdiligent
• undiligent

 

Related terms

• diligence

Translations

hard-working and focused

• Arabic: مُجْتَهِد (ar) (mujtahid)
• Armenian: աշխատասեր (hy) (ašxataser)
• Bashkir: тырыш (tırış), егәрле (yegərle), эшсән (eşsən)
• Belarusian: працаві́ты (pracavíty), стара́нны (be) (staránny), руплі́вы (ruplívy), пі́льны (pílʹny)
• Bulgarian: приле́жен (bg) (priléžen), усъ́рден (bg) (usǎ́rden), стара́телен (bg) (starátelen), трудолюби́в (bg) (trudoljubív)
• Catalan: diligent
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 刻苦 (zh) (kèkǔ), 耐勞 / 耐劳 (zh) (nàiláo), 努力 (zh) (nǔlì), 勤奮 / 勤奋 (zh) (qínfèn), 勤勞 / 勤劳 (zh) (qínláo), 勤勉 (zh) (qínmiǎn)

• Czech: pilný (cs) m
• Danish: flittig, ihærdig, arbejdsom
• Dutch: ijverig (nl), vlijtig (nl), toegewijd (nl)
• Esperanto: diligenta (eo)
• Faroese: íðin, dúgligur, arbeiðssamur
• Finnish: tunnollinen (fi), huolellinen (fi), uuttera (fi)
• French: industrieux (fr), diligent (fr)
• Galician: dilixente, bulideiro
• Georgian: შრომისმოყვარე (šromismoq̇vare), ბეჯითი (beǯiti)
• German: fleißig (de), arbeitsam (de), eifrig (de), sorgfältig (de), dienstbeflissen (de) (dated)
• Greek:

  Ancient: σπουδαῖος (spoudaîos)

• Hebrew: חָרוּץ (he) (kharútz)
• Hindi: मेहनती (hi) (mehnatī)
• Hungarian: szorgalmas (hu), igyekvő (hu)
• Ido: diligenta (io)
• Indonesian: rajin (id)
• Interlingua: diligente
• Italian: diligente (it)
• Japanese: 勤勉 (ja) (きんべん, kinben)
• Khmer: លំអោត (lumʼaot), ស្រវាស្រទេញ (km) (srɑvaa srɑtɨñ), ឱហាត (km) (ʼaohaat)
• Korean: 근면하다 (ko) (geunmyeonhada), 부지런하다 (ko) (bujireonhada)
• Latin: sēdulus, industrius, diligens
• Latvian: centīgs, cītīgs, uzcītīgs
• Macedonian: усрден (usrden), трудољубив (trudoljubiv), работлив (rabotliv)
• Maori: urupū, pukunanaiore
• Mongolian: хичээнгүй (mn) (xičeengüj)
• Norwegian: flittig, iherdig (no)

  Bokmål: arbeidsom (no)

  Nynorsk: arbeidsam

• Polish: pilny (pl) m
• Portuguese: diligente (pt)
• Romanian: harnic (ro), diligent (ro)
• Russian: приле́жный (ru) (priléžnyj), усе́рдный (ru) (usérdnyj), трудолюби́вый (ru) (trudoljubívyj), работя́щий (ru) (rabotjáščij), стара́тельный (ru) (starátelʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: dèanadach
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ма̀рљив, трудољубив

  Roman: màrljiv (sh), trudoljubiv

• Slovak: pilný, usilovný, pracovitý
• Slovene: marljiv
• Spanish: diligente (es)
• Swedish: flitig (sv), ihärdig (sv), arbetsam (sv)
• Thai: ขยัน (th) (kà-yǎn)
• Turkish: çalışkan (tr)
• Ukrainian: стара́нний (staránnyj), пи́льний (pýlʹnyj), рете́льний (retélʹnyj)
• Urdu: میہنتی (mehnatī)
• Vietnamese: siêng năng (vi), chăm chỉ (vi)
• Welsh: diwyd (cy)

Further reading

• “diligent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “diligent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin diligentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [di.liˈʒen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [di.liˈʒent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [di.liˈd͡ʒent]

Adjective

diligent m or f (masculine and feminine plural diligents)

1. diligent (performing with intense concentration)

Derived terms

• diligentment

Related terms

• diligència

Further reading

• “diligent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

From Latin diligentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.li.ʒɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

diligent (feminine diligente, masculine plural diligents, feminine plural diligentes)

1. diligent (performing with intense concentration)

Derived terms

• diligemment

Related terms

• diligence

Further reading

• “diligent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Verb

dīligent

1. third-person plural future active indicative of dīligō

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin diligens or French diligent.

Adjective

diligent m or n (feminine singular diligentă, masculine plural diligenți, feminine and neuter plural diligente)

1. diligent

Declension

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	diligent		diligentă		diligenți	diligente
	definite	diligentul		diligenta		diligenții	diligentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	diligent		diligente		diligenți	diligente
	definite	diligentului		diligentei		diligenților	diligentelor