meticu- +

1. A condition whereby someone is extremely careful and precise.
2. Being extremely or excessively concerned with details.

1. Pertaining to taking or showing extreme care about very small details; being precise and thorough: Mac's father was always a meticulous carpenter who was always focused on the accuracy of his work.
2. Marked by extreme care in the treatment of details; scrupulous, greatly concerned, and punctilious: A meticulous person is very careful because he, or she, is "afraid" not to be.
3. Etymology: from Latin meticulosus, "fearful, timid"; literally, "full of fear", from metus, "fear" + Latin -ulous "tending to do, inclined to be".

In the sense of "fussy about details" was first recorded in English in 1827, from French méticuleux.

Since meticulous now has no meanings related to "fearful", it has turned to the current meaning of "painstakingly careful" with no connotations of any kind of "fear" at all.

At first, the new meaning was controversial among some usage commentators; however, it is now the most common meaning and it is no longer considered a mistaken concept.

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1. A reference to being extremely careful and precise.
2. Characterized by being excessively concerned with details.
3. In a meticulous manner.

1. Strict attention to minute details.
2. Being very careful and paying great attention to every detail.