meticulous

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   marked by precise accordance with details

   meticulous research

2. 2
   adj

   marked by extreme care in treatment of details

   a meticulous craftsman

3. 3
   adj

   Characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details.

   meticulous search

4. 4
   adj

   Timid, fearful, overly cautious.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin meticulōsus (“full of fear, timid, fearful, terrible, frightful”), from metus (“fear”) and -culōsus, extracted from perīculōsus (“perilous”). Sense of “characterized by very precise, conscientious attention to details” is a semantic loan from French méticuleux.