diligence
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.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdɪlɪdʒəns/
- Hyphenation: di‧li‧gence
- The stage-coach sense may be pronounced as in French.
Noun
diligence (countable and uncountable, plural diligences)
- Steady application; industry; careful work involving long-term effort.
- The qualities of a hard worker, including conscientiousness, determination, and perseverance.
- Carefulness.
- (Can we add an example for this sense?)
- due diligence
- (historical, 19th century) A public stage-coach.
- 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
- worksomeness (rare)
Derived terms
Translations
carefulness
qualities of a hard worker, including conscientiousness, determination, perseverance
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public stage-coach
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.
French
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /di.li.ʒɑ̃s/
Noun
diligence f (countable and uncountable, plural diligences)
- (uncountable) diligence, conscientiousness
- (uncountable) haste
- (countable) stage-coach, diligence
Further reading
- “diligence” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
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