diligence

UK/ˈdɪlɪd͡ʒəns/US/ˈdɪlɪd͡ʒəns/

nounC1Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #9,266 of 15,258neutral

Diligence is steady careful effort in your work. Show diligence, due diligence, with great diligence.

Due diligence is the fixed business phrase for the checking done before a deal, and failing to do it is a professional failure with legal consequences. As a personal quality it means care over time rather than brilliance in a moment.

Definitions of diligence

1noundiligenceSteady careful effort in your work.C1
“Thanks to her diligence, every file was checked and nothing was missed.”

diligence is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin diligentia comes from diligere, to value or take care over, from legere, to choose.

Latin
diligentia
French
diligence
English, today
diligence

French diligence, from Latin diligentia.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

diligence in the wild

Due diligence can be a legal obligation, but the term more commonly applies to voluntary investigations.
Due diligence
A common example of due diligence is the process through which a potential acquirer evaluates a target company or its assets in advance of a merger or acquisition.
Due diligence
Negligence is the opposite of diligence, or being careful.
Gross negligence
In Hungary, a 5-point grade system is used in primary, secondary and higher education, which categorically evaluates the academic performance, behaviour and diligence of the student.
Academic grading in Hungary
Assessing company management as part of overall due diligence is crucial when closing business deals.
Management due diligence

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

due diligence

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