negligent

The word 'negligent' has a direct lineage from the Latin 'negligent-', the present participle stem of 'negligere'. This Latin verb is a compound of 'neg-', a variant of 'nec-' meaning "not", and 'legere', meaning "to gather, choose, or read". The core sense of 'legere' evolved from the Proto-Indo-European root leǵ-, "to collect, gather". Thus, the literal meaning of 'negligere' was "not to pick up, not to choose, to disregard". Over time, this concrete sense of failing to gather or select broadened into the abstract concept of failing to give proper attention or care. The suffix '-ent' was adopted from Latin to form the English adjective describing a person characterized by this state of neglect.

Structure: neglig (neglect) + ent (adjective suffix) - 'neglig' originates from the Latin verb 'negligere', meaning "to neglect, to disregard". - 'ent' is an adjective-forming suffix of Latin origin, indicating a state or quality.