different between difficile vs difficulty

English

Etymology

From late Old French difficile, from Latin difficilis, from dis- + facilis (“easy”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?.f?.sa?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?d?.f?.s?l/

Adjective

difficile (comparative more difficile, superlative most difficile)

1. (obsolete) Hard to work with; stubborn.
2. (obsolete) Difficult.
   • , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.185:

     […] forasmuch as he was to judge of an internall beauty, of a difficile knowledge, and abstruse discovery.

Translations

French

Etymology

From Old French difficile, from Latin difficilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /di.fi.sil/

Adjective

difficile (plural difficiles)

1. difficult
2. choosy, fussy, picky

Synonyms

• compliqué
• exigeant

Antonyms

• facile

Derived terms

• difficilement
• difficulté
• faire le difficile
• la critique est aisée mais l’art est difficile

Further reading

• “difficile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Interlingua

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dif?fi.tsi.le/

Adjective

difficile (comparative plus difficile, superlative le plus difficile)

1. difficult

Antonyms

• facile

Italian

Etymology

From Latin difficilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dif?fi.t??i.le/

Adjective

difficile (plural difficili)

1. difficult, hard

   Antonym: facile

Noun

difficile m or f (plural difficili)

1. person who is intractable or hard to please

Noun

difficile m (plural difficili)

1. difficult time or moment

Related terms

• difficilmente
• difficoltà

Latin

Etymology 1

From difficilis (“difficult, troublesome”) +? -?.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /dif?fi.ki.le?/, [d??f?f?k???e?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /dif?fi.t??i.le/, [d?if?fi?t??il?]

Adverb

difficil? (comparative difficilius, superlative difficilissim?)

1. with difficulty

Synonyms

• (with difficulty): difficiliter, difficulter

Related terms

Etymology 2

Inflected form of difficilis (“difficult, troublesome”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /dif?fi.ki.le/, [d??f?f?k????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /dif?fi.t??i.le/, [d?if?fi?t??il?]

Adjective

difficile

1. nominative neuter singular of difficilis
2. accusative neuter singular of difficilis
3. vocative neuter singular of difficilis

References

• difficile in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• difficile in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

Middle French

Adjective

difficile m or f (plural difficiles)

1. difficult

Norman

Etymology

From Old French difficile, from Latin difficilis.

Adjective

difficile m or f

1. (Jersey, Guernsey) difficult

Derived terms

• difficilement (“difficultly, with difficulty”)

Old French

Alternative forms

• difficil (masculine oblique singular)

Adjective

difficile m (oblique and nominative feminine singular difficile)

1. difficult

Descendants

• French: difficile
• Norman: difficile (Jersey, Guernsey)

English

Etymology

From Middle English difficultee, from Old French difficulté, from 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): /?d?f?k?lti/

Noun

difficulty (countable and uncountable, plural difficulties)

1. The state of being difficult, or hard to do.
2. An obstacle that hinders achievement of a goal.
3. (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
   • 2016 March 30, Alan Thompson, "Diver taken to hospital after getting into difficulties at Stoney Cove diving centre" Leicester Mercury
   • 2016 February 24, Catherine Shanahan, "Boy, 13, drowns after getting into difficulty in river" Irish Examiner

     The three teenagers, a girl and two boys, were playing by the river when it is believed they got into difficulty.

   • 2016 March 14, "Kayaker rescued after getting into difficulty" Bournemouth Echo

     Members of the public had called 999 as they were concerned the kayaker was in difficulty around the headland race due to very strong spring tides and choppy seas with the kayaker making no headway.

   • 2016 March 19, Neil Shaw "Teens rescued from Dartmoor after getting into difficulty" Plymouth Herald

     A group of young people had to be rescued from Dartmoor on Friday night after getting into difficulty during a Duke of Edinburgh exercise. […] A 16-year-old girl required medical attention and a medic was winched down to the site by helicopter.

4. An objection.
5. That which cannot be easily understood or believed.
6. An awkward situation or quarrel.

Derived terms

• difficulty level
• with difficulty

Related terms

• difficile
• difficult

Translations

Further reading

• difficulty in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• difficulty in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.