It is tax season again. Accountants and numerous individuals are meticulously pouring over the financial details on government forms to file income tax documents on time. I remember my mother, years ago, spreading receipts and forms all over the kitchen table to fill out the tax returns for the family. She had meticulously set aside all the financial information during the year and now with meticulous attention started filling out the sheets while flipping through the tax return booklet.
Meticulous means by extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details. When it came to lab work the scientist was a meticulous researcher, performing the same experiment many times before writing the report.
Meticulous entered the English language in the 1500s from the Latin meticulosus, meaning fearful, coming from the Latin noun metus, fear. Meticulous was originally used as a synonym of frightened and timid. The woman, meticulously guarding her meager possessions, felt a deep sense of meticulous trepidation as the storm clouds gathered. By the 1700s this meaning of meticulous was abandoned.
Then in 1827 meticulous acquired a new meaning of overly and timidly careful. This was probably influenced by the French word meticuliux, meaning one who pays a lot of attention and care to how one acts, fearing the consequences of making a mistake. Eventually meticulous implied painstakingly careful, with no connotations of fear, and this became the most common meaning.
Synonyms of meticulous include conscientious, diligent, scrupulous, circumspect, thorough and punctilious.
Conscientious suggests a person paying close attention to the task at hand. The honour student was conscientious in the completion of all assignments during the year.
Diligent means characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort. His work was characterized by diligent examination of all aspects of the job.
Scrupulous implies painstakingly exact. She filled out every form with scrupulous care.
Circumspect means being careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences. The trade commissioner was circumspect in every deal that was sent to the government for approval.
Thorough suggests actions marked by full detail. The witness gave a thorough description of the accident.
Punctilious means marked by or concerned about precise accordance with the details of codes or conventions. The priest was punctilious in leading the liturgy, even to the finest of points according to the rubrics.
I must admit, following my mother’s example, that I am meticulous when filling out my taxes, although I use a computer program, not paper, to file my income tax forms. I check and check and then recheck to make sure I have done everything correctly. In my meticulous toil there is still a little bit of the old meaning – fear. I fear the possible audit of the Canada Revenue Agency, so I am meticulous.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to [email protected]. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
