Etymograph

English

indiligent

Indiligent comes from Latin indiligens ‘careless, heedless, negligent’, from dīligēns ‘diligent, careful, attentive’, and ultimately from dīligō ‘esteem, love’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīligō1‘esteem, love’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīligēns2‘diligent, careful, attentive’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindiligens3‘careless, heedless, negligent’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1623indiligent3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin diligens
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin indiligens
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English indiligent
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine: “[…] fall upon the indiligent and undeserving”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīligōWiktionary, Latin diligens‘esteem, love’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdīligēnsWiktionary, Latin indiligens‘diligent, careful, attentive’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEindiligensWiktionary, English indiligent‘careless, heedless, negligent’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1623indiligentWiktionary, English indiligent. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine: “[…] fall upon the indiligent and undeserving”

Equivalent to in- ‘not’ + diligent

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’

Proto-Germanic *in ‘into’

English in-

Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to gather’

…

Latin dīligō ‘to love, esteem much’

Latin dīligēns ‘careful, attentive, diligent’

Old French diligent

Middle English diligent

English diligent

Linked words

through Latin dīligō ‘esteem, love’

predilection, 3 more

through Latin dīligēns ‘diligent, careful, attentive’

diligence, 2 more

Today it means

adj Not diligent; idle, slothful.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “indiligent”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin diligens, Latin indiligens. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin dīligō / indiligent

Shirt and support for this word