Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “negligent” come from?

Negligent comes from Old French negligent, from Latin negligens, the present participle of neglego, meaning to disregard or leave undone, from lego, meaning to pick or gather.

negligent (English): Careless, without appropriate or sufficient...

Definitions

  1. Careless, without appropriate or sufficient...

Ancestry of “negligent”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchnegligent—
2LatinnegligensAlternative form of neglegēns
3Latinnegligō—

Words derived from “negligent”

  • negligently
  • nonnegligent
Every word from Latin negligō →