sedulous

From Latin sēdulus (“diligent”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛdjələs/, IPA^(key): /ˈsɛdʒələs/

sedulous (comparative more sedulous, superlative most sedulous)

1. (of a person) Diligent in application or pursuit; constant, steady, and persevering in business or in endeavors to effect an object; steadily industrious.

   Synonyms: assiduous; see also Thesaurus:industrious

   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 9, lines 25-29,

     Since first this Subject for Heroic Song

     Pleas’d me long choosing, and beginning late;

     Not sedulous by Nature to indite

     Warrs, hitherto the onely Argument

     Heroic deem’d […]

   • 1764, Oliver Goldsmith, An History of England, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to his Son, London: J. Newbery, Volume 1, Letter 9, p. 137,

     […] the parliaments, at this time, were not as formerly, factions ready to oppress public liberty, but assemblies of wise and good men, sedulous for common welfare, and of wisdom equal to the rectitude of their intentions […]

   • 1815, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Chapter 15,

     She wondered what sort of herbs they were which the old man was so sedulous to gather.

   • 1915, Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier, Part 1,

     Leading the life I did, of the sedulous, strained nurse, I had to do something to keep myself fit.

   • 1997, David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:

     The pretty setting and glittering ship and dashing staff and sedulous servants and solicitous fun-managers all want something from me, and it’s not just the price of my ticket—they’ve already got that.

2. (of an activity) Carried out with diligence.
   • 1646, Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, London: Edw. Dod & Nath. Ekins, 1650, Book I, Chapter 5, p. 14,

     […] there are many great wits to be condemned, who have neglected the increment of Arts, and the sedulous pursuit of knowledge […]

   • 1886, Francis A. Leyland, The Brontë Family, London: Hurst & Blackett, Volume I, Chapter ,

     Miss Branwell’s affectionate regard for her dead sister’s children caused her to take deep interest in everything relating to them, their health, the comfort and cleanliness of their home, and the sedulous culture of their minds.

   • 2001, Michael Pollan, The Botany of Desire, Random House, New York, page 135:

     With the right equipment, an indoor grower could create a utopia for his plants, an artificial habitat more perfect than any in nature, [...]. These sedulous attentions would be wasted on male plants, which are worse than useless in sinsemilla production.

   • 2010, Paul Routledge, Daily Mirror, 9 March 2010:

     The Scots have always been a fiercely independent people, but it surprised me how far this sedulous process of separation has gone already.

• sedulously
• sedulity

• sedulous in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• sedulous in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• sedulous at OneLook Dictionary Search