diligence [ME] Latin dilegere meant ‘to value highly, love, choose’ and was formed from di(s)- ‘apart’ and legere ‘choose’. Diligentia ‘attentiveness, carefulness’ was formed from dilegere and came into English via French to give us diligence. Neglect [E16th] also comes from legere, with a negative element in front, as does select [M16th] with a prefix which also means ‘apart’. See also elegant.