It's Merriam-Webster's word of the day for April 5th.

Today's word is meticulous, spelled E-E-T-I-C-U-L-O-S.

Meticulous is an adjective.

Something or someone described as meticulous shows extreme or excessive care in the

consideration or treatment of details. Here's the word used in a sentence from

Forbes by Alicia Kelso. In a press release, the company touts its meticulous approach to the

sandwich's creation, testing pickles with eight variations of thickness and

more than ten bun recipes with six different bakeries.

We're afraid we have some strange etymological news.

The word meticulous comes from the Latin word for fearful, Meticulosus, and ultimately from the Latin

noun Meatus meaning fear. Although Meticulus currently has no fearful meanings. It was originally used as a synonym of

frightened or timid. This sense had fallen into disuse by 1700, and in the 1800s, Meticulous acquired a new meaning of overly and timidly

careful, possibly due to the influence of the French word Meticule.

This meaning in turn led to the current one of painstakingly careful with no

connotations of fear at all. The newest use was controversial for a time but it is now by far the most common meaning.

Even the most meticulous or personicity, depending on your view, among us, consider it perfectly

acceptable. With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.

Visit Marion Webster.com today

for definitions, word play, and trending word lookups.