Where does “meticulous” come from?

Meticulous comes from Latin meticulosus, derived from Latin metus meaning fear or dread, originally describing someone prone to fearfulness.

meticulous (English): Characterized by very precise, conscientious...

Definitions

  1. Characterized by very precise, conscientious...

Ancestry of “meticulous”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmeticulōsusfull of fear; fearful; timid
2Latin-culōsus—
3Latincūlusthe arse, ass
4Proto-Celtickūloscorner
5Proto-Indo-EuropeanḱuH-ló-—
6Proto-Indo-European(s)kewH-to cover, bedeck; cover

Words derived from “meticulous”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)kewH- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European ḱuH-ló- →Every word from Proto-Celtic kūlos →