Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

dīlĭgens, entis, Part. and P. a., diligent, careful, etc., v. diligo fin.

dīlĭgenter, adv., attentively, carefully, diligently, earnestly; v. diligo, P. a. fin.

dī-lĭgo, lexi, lectum, 3, v. a. [2. lego]. Prop., to distinguish one by selecting him from others; hence, in gen., to value or esteem highly, to love (v. amo init., and cf. faveo, studeo, foveo, cupio; very freq. and class.).

  1. I. Prop.: nihil est enim virtute amabilius, nihil quod magis alliciat ad diligendum: quippe cum propter virtutem et probitatem etiam eos, quos numquam vidimus, quodam modo diligamus, Cic. Lael. 8, 28; cf. id. ib. 9, 29 sq.; 14, 50; id. Rep. 1, 10 fin.; 1, 12 et saep. (cf. also the passages with diligo which are cited under amo, 1. and 1. colo, II. 2. b.); Caes. B. G. 6, 19 fin.; id. B. C. 1, 61, 3; Suet. Caes. 67; Verg. A. 9, 430; Hor. C. 2, 20, 7 et saep.: satin habes, si feminarum nulla’st, quam aeque diligam? Plaut. Am. 1, 3, 11; cf. id. ib. 3, 3, 18; Verg. A. 1, 344; Hor. C. 2, 5, 17; Suet. Caes. 50; 52; id. Aug. 62 al.: te in germani fratris dilexi loco, Ter. And. 1, 5, 57; cf. Verg. A. 4, 31; Suet. Calig. 24 al.: quem di diligunt, whom the gods favor, denoting a fortunate person, Plaut. Bacch. 4, 7, 18; Ter. And. 5, 6, 9; id. Phorm. 5, 6, 14.
    Prov.: diligitur nemo, nisi cui fortuna secunda est, Ov. P. 2, 3, 23.
  2. II. Transf.
    1. A. Of inanimate objects: fidem est complexus, observantiamque dilexit, Cic. Balb. 28; cf.: Caesaris consilia in re publica, id. Prov. Cons. 10 fin.: benevolentiam, diligentiam, prudentiam mirifice, id. Att. 12, 34 fin.: aviae memoriam, Suet. Vesp. 2: auream mediocritatem, Hor. C. 2, 10, 6: Cypron, id. ib. 1, 30, 2 et saep.
    2. B. Very rarely, of inanimate subjects, to love, choose, affect: montes amant cedrus, larix, etc. … montes et valles diligit abies, Plin. 16, 18, 30, § 73 sq.
    3. * C. With inf. for amare, to do willingly or habitually, to be fond of doing: pira nasci tali solo maxime diligunt, Pall. Febr. 25, 1.
      Hence,
      1. 1. dī-lĭgens, entis, P. a., prop. esteeming, loving; hence, in respect to an inanimate object, careful, assiduous, attentive, diligent, accurate with regard to it, opp. negligens (very freq. and class.).
    1. A. In gen.
          1. (α) With praepp.: qui in re adventitia atque hereditaria tam diligens, tam attentus esset, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 48; so, in rebus omnibus, id. Lael. 17, 62: in exquirendis temporibus, id. Rep. 2, 14 fin.: in ostentis animadvertendis, id. Div. 1, 42 fin.: in compositione, id. Quint. 10, 1, 79: in philosophia, id. ib. 129: in eloquendo, id. ib. 63: in symmetria, Plin. 34, 8, 19, § 58 al.: ad custodiendum aliquem diligentissimus, Cic. Cat. 1, 8, 19; so, ad reportandum, id. Verr. 2, 4, 3, § 6: ad cetera, Quint. 1, 1, 7: diligentes circa hoc, Plin. 31, 5, 30, § 56: circa aerarium, Eutr. 8, 7.
          2. (β) With gen.: omnis officii diligentissimus, Cic. Cael. 30, 73: veritatis, Nep. Epam. 3: imperii, id. Con. 1, 2: disciplinae, Vell. 1, 6; cf.: litterarum veterum, Gell. 4, 11, 4: compositionis, Quint. 9, 4, 77: aliarum rerum quae vitam instruunt, Sen. Vit. Beat. 3, 3: temperamenti, Plin. Pan. 79, 5: naturae, attentively investigating it, Plin. 13, 4, 7, § 31; so, medicinae, id. 32, 3, 13, § 26 et saep.
          3. * (γ) With dat.: Corinthios video publicis equis assignandis et alendis, orborum et viduarum tributis fuisse quondam diligentes, Cic. Rep. 2, 20, 32.
          4. (δ) Absol.: experientissimus ac diligentissimus orator, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 21: pro cauto ac diligente, Caes. Fragm. ap. Charis. p. 101 P.; for which: ut a diligenti curiosus distat, Quint. 8, 3, 55; cf. id. 1, 4, 24; 2, 15, 10 et saep.
    2. B. Transf., of inanimate subjects: assidua ac diligens scriptura, Cic. de Or. 1, 33, 150; cf.: diligentior notitia, Plin. 6, 22, 24, § 84: stilus, Tac. Or. 39: remedia, Sen. Ep. 95; Plin. 3, 5, 6, § 45; Vell. 1, 4.
    3. C. In partic., with reference to domestic affairs, frugal, thrifty, economical (cf. its opp. negligens = prodigus, and Ruhnk. Rutil. Lup. p. 95, a, ed. Frotsch.): homo frugi ac diligens, qui sua servare vellet, Cic. Verr. 2, 4, 18; Plin. Ep. 2, 6, 1; cf. opp. negligens, ib. 4, 13, 8; and c. c. parcus and opp. luxuriosus, Auct. Her. 4, 34: cum te pro illiberali diligentem (appelles), Quint. 9, 3, 65: ex re familiari, cujus diligentissimus erat, Suet. Gramm. 23.
      Hence, dīlĭgenter, adv. (acc. to II. A.), carefully, attentively, diligently: accurate agatur, docte et diligenter, Plaut. Capt. 2, 1, 30; id. Men. 5, 6, 3; Ter. Eun. 2, 1, 1; 2, 3, 47 al.; Cic. Phil. 1, 15 fin.; id. Fam. 6, 5; id. Att. 16, 16 A. fin.; Caes. B. G. 2, 5 al.
      Comp., Cic. Rep. 1, 22; id. Brut. 22, 86; Caes. B. G. 3, 16 fin.; id. B. C. 3, 8, 4; Vulg. Act. 22, 30 al.
      Sup., Cic. Lael. 2, 7; id. Rep. 2, 3; Caes. B. G. 2, 28 fin.; id. B. C. 3, 81 al.
      1. 2. dīlectus, a, um, P. a., loved, beloved, dear (rare).
        With dat.: pueri dilecti Superis, Ov. M. 10, 153; so id. ib. 5, 395; 8, 758.
        In sup., Stat. Th. 8, 99; Vulg. Heb. 6, 9.
        Absol.: luce mihi carior dilectior fili, Macr. Somn. Scip. 2, 1 init.; Claud. Rapt. Pros. 3, 74 al.
        Subst.: dīlectus, i, m., = ὁ ἐρώμενος, a favorite, Suet. Aug. 98.