Part 3117

<h1>Dilettant</h1> <Xpage=412>

<hw>Dil"et*tant`</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Of or pertaining to dilettanteism; amateur; <as>as, <ex>dilettant</ex> speculation</as>.</def>

<i>Carlyle.</i>

<h1>Dilettant</h1> <Xpage=412>

<hw>Dil`et*tant"</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>A dilettante.</def>

<blockquote>Though few art lovers can be connoisseurs, many are <b>dilettants</b>. <i>Fairholt.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Dilettante</h1> <Xpage=412>

<hw>Dil`et*tan"te</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt>; <plu>pl. <plw>Dilettanti</plw> <tt>(#)</tt></plu>. <ety>[It., prop. p. pr. of <ets>dillettare</ets> to take delight in, fr. L. <ets>delectare</ets> to delight. See <er>Delight</er>, <tt>v. t.</tt>]</ety> <def>An admirer or lover of the fine arts; popularly, an amateur; especially, one who follows an art or a branch of knowledge, desultorily, or for amusement only.</def>

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<blockquote>The true poet is not an eccentric creature, not a mere artist living only for art, not a dreamer or a <b>dilettante</b>, sipping the nectar of existence, while he keeps aloof from its deeper interests. <i>J. C. Shairp.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Dilettanteish</h1> <Xpage=413>

<hw>Dil`et*tan"te*ish</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Somewhat like a dilettante.</def>

<h1>Dilettanteism</h1> <Xpage=413>

<hw>Dil`et*tan"te*ism</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>The state or quality of being a dilettante; the desultory pursuit of art, science, or literature.</def>

<h1>Dilettantish</h1> <Xpage=413>

<hw>Dil`et*tant"ish</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Dilettanteish.</def>

<h1>Dilettantism</h1> <Xpage=413>

<hw>Dil`et*tant"ism</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>Same as <er>Dilettanteism</er>.</def>

<i>F. Harrison.</i>

<h1>Diligence</h1> <Xpage=413>

<hw>Dil"i*gence</hw> <tt>(?)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F. <ets>diligence</ets>, L. <ets>diligentia</ets>.]</ety>

<p><b>1.</b> <def>The quality of being diligent; carefulness; careful attention; -- the opposite of <i>negligence</i>.</def>

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Interested and persevering application; devoted and painstaking effort to accomplish what is undertaken; assiduity in service.</def>

<blockquote>That which ordinary men are fit for, I am qualified in; and the best of me is <b>diligence</b>. <i>Shak.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Scots Law)</fld> <def>Process by which persons, lands, or effects are seized for debt; process for enforcing the attendance of witnesses or the production of writings.</def>

<cs><mcol><col>To do one's diligence</col>, <col>give diligence</col>, <col>use diligence</col></mcol>, <cd>to exert one's self; to make interested and earnest endeavor.</cd></cs>

<blockquote>And each of them <b>doth</b> all <b>his diligence</b> To do unto the fest\'82 reverence. <i>Chaucer.</i></blockquote>

<syn>Syn. -- Attention; industry; assiduity; sedulousness; earnestness; constancy; heed; heedfulness; care; caution. -- <er>Diligence</er>, <er>Industry</er>. <i>Industry</i> has the wider sense of the two, implying an habitual devotion to labor for some valuable end, as knowledge, property, etc. <i>Diligence</i> denotes earnest application to some specific object or pursuit, which more or less directly has a strong hold on one's interests or feelings. A man may be <i>diligent</i> for a time, or in seeking some favorite end, without meriting the title of <i>industrious</i>. Such was the case with Fox, while Burke was eminent not only for <i>diligence</i>, but <i>industry</i>; he was always at work, and always looking out for some new field of mental effort.</syn>