English Online Dictionary. What means difficulty? What does difficulty mean?
English
Etymology
From Middle English difficulte, from Middle French and Anglo-Norman difficulte and their etymon Latin difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis (“hard to do, difficult”), from dis- + facilis (“easy”); see difficile and difficult. Equivalent to dis- + facile + -ty. Also analysable as difficult + -y, though the adjective is historically a backformation from the noun.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈdɪfɪkəlti/
Noun
difficulty (countable and uncountable, plural difficulties)
- The state of being difficult, or hard to do.
- An obstacle that hinders achievement of a goal.
- (sometimes in the plural) Physical danger from the environment, especially with risk of drowning
- 2012 August 2, "Children rescued after getting into difficulties in Donegal" BBC Online
- An objection.
- That which cannot be easily understood or believed.
- An awkward situation or quarrel.
Derived terms
Related terms
- difficile
- difficult
Translations
Further reading
- “difficulty”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “difficulty”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.