assiduous

assiduous

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin assiduus, from assidere (“to sit down to”), from ad- (“to”) + sedere (“to sit”).[1]

Cognate (via assidere) to assess.

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US)

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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:

     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, Will Pavia, "Allen Klein, accountant turned manager of the Beatles, dies at 77," The Times (UK), 6 July:

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

Usage notes

• Since the 18th century, this term has sometimes carried a connotation of servility.[1]

Derived terms

• assiduously
• assiduousness

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sed-‎ (0 c, 62 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) 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)

References

1. Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “assiduous”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.