meticulous — UK US /məˈtɪkjələs/ adjective ► very careful to consider every detail in a process: meticulous about sth »She was meticulous about keeping her expense receipts properly filed. »A combination of innovation and meticulous attention to detail have… … Financial and business terms
Meticulous — Me*tic u*lous, a. [L. meticulosus, fr. metus fear: cf. F. m[ e]ticuleux.] Timid; fearful. [archaic] [1913 Webster] 2. Taking great care to get every detail correct; working thoroughly and with precision; as, meticulous workmanship. [PJC] {Me*tic… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
meticulous — is derived from the Latin word metus ‘fear’, and in the 16c and 17c it had a corresponding meaning ‘fearful, timid’. Then the word went out of use, only to reappear in the early 19c in a completely different sense, ‘over careful about details’.… … Modern English usage
meticulous — (adj.) 1530s, fearful, timid, from L. meticulosus fearful, timid, lit. full of fear, from metus fear, dread, apprehension, anxiety, of unknown origin. Sense of fussy about details is first recorded in English 1827, from Fr. méticuleux timorously… … Etymology dictionary
meticulous — *careful, scrupulous, punctilious, punctual Analogous words: fastidious, finicky, particular, fussy, pernickety, *nice: accurate, exact, precise, *correct … New Dictionary of Synonyms
meticulous — [adj] detailed, perfectionist accurate, cautious, conscientious, conscionable, crossing the t’s*, dotting the i’s*, exact, fastidious, fussy, heedful, microscopic, nitpicking*, painstaking, particular, persnickety*, picky, precise, punctilious,… … New thesaurus
meticulous — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ very careful and precise. DERIVATIVES meticulously adverb meticulousness noun. ORIGIN originally in the sense «fearful», later «overcareful about detail»: from Latin meticulosus fearful … English terms dictionary
meticulous — [mə tik′yo͞o ləs, mə tik′yələs] adj. [L meticulosus, fearful < metus, fear] extremely or excessively careful about details; scrupulous or finicky SYN. CAREFUL meticulously adv. meticulousness n. meticulosity [mə tik′yo͞oläs′ə tē, mə… … English World dictionary
meticulous — me|tic|u|lous [mıˈtıkjuləs] adj [Date: 1800 1900; : Latin; Origin: meticulosus afraid , from metus fear ] very careful about small details, and always making sure that everything is done correctly ▪ He kept meticulous accounts. ▪ Their planning… … Dictionary of contemporary English
Meticulous — Wikipedia does not have an encyclopedia article for Meticulous (search results). You may want to read Wiktionary s entry on meticulous instead.wiktionary:Special:Search/meticulous … Wikipedia
