Rigour

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɪɡə(ɹ)/

Definitions

1. The condition of being extremely strict and demanding while enforcing guidelines The necessary thoroughness and precision that define a task or process The meticulous attention to detail and high standards expected in various disciplines
2. A state of being uncompromisingly severe or exacting in standards ; the quality of being very precise and exhaustive in approach ; a challenging or severe situation often involving discomfort
3. An attitude marked by unyielding discipline or sternness ; attention to detail ensuring complete correctness ; a physical or mental hardship that is intense and exacting

Etymology: Rigour began as a physical word for stiffness and cold. The Latin "rigor" meant rigidity, the stiffness of a body, and also the chill of frost or the harshness of weather. Its root, "rigere", meant to be stiff or rigid, and that sense of hardness is what the word carried with it as it moved into Middle English through Anglo-Norman and Old French. The shift from stiffness to strictness is the heart of the story. A rigid object resists bending, and so a rigid rule or a rigid person is one who will not give way. Over time the word moved from describing the body and the weather to describing standards of conduct, where it came to mean an unbending severity in enforcing rules and an exacting thoroughness in work. Modern English keeps both strands alive. The British spelling "rigour" differs from American "rigor", which follows the Latin more closely, and the French "rigueur" shows the same path of development.

Synonyms: strictness, severity, thoroughness, precision, exactness

Antonyms: leniency, indulgence, carelessness, slackness, laxity