All 3 Uses of
diligent
in
Jane Eyre
- I never saw a busier person than she seemed to be; yet it was difficult to say what she did: or rather, to discover any result of her diligence.†
p. 270.3 *diligence = hard work and care
- I watch your career with interest, because I consider you a specimen of a diligent, orderly, energetic woman: not because I deeply compassionate what you have gone through, or what you still suffer.†
p. 432.9
- Jane, you are docile, diligent, disinterested, faithful, constant, and courageous; very gentle, and very heroic: cease to mistrust yourself — I can trust you unreservedly.†
p. 465.8
Definitions:
-
(1)
(diligent as in: she is diligent) hard work and care in tasks -- often continuing when others might quit because of difficulties
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) More specifically in law, diligence or due diligence refers to the care or attention expected by the law in doing something such as fulfilling the terms of a contract.
More rarely, but sometimes seen in classic literature, a diligence is a public stagecoach.