different between emergency vs quandary

English

Alternative forms

• emergence (archaic)

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin emergentia, from Latin emergens, present participle of emergo, equivalent to emergent +? -cy or emerge +? -ency.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /??m?.d??n.si/
• Hyphenation: e?mer?gen?cy
• Rhymes: -??(?)d??nsi

Noun

emergency (plural emergencies)

1. A situation which poses an immediate risk and which requires urgent attention.

   Cardiac arrest is an emergency and if you find someone in cardiac arrest you should call 999 immediately.

2. The department of a hospital that treats emergencies.
3. An individual brought in at short notice to replace a member of staff, a player in a sporting team, etc.
   • November 2 2014, Daniel Taylor, "Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United," guardian.co.uk

     Van Gaal responded by replacing Adnan Januzaj with Carrick and, in fairness, the emergency centre-half did exceedingly well given that he has not played since May.

4. (archaic) The quality of being emergent; sudden or unexpected appearance; an unforeseen occurrence.

Synonyms

• (hospital department): ER, casualty, emerg

Related terms

• emerge
• emergence

Translations

Derived terms

See also

• fire department
• police

English

Etymology

16th century. Origin unknown; perhaps a dialectal corruption (simulating a word of Latin origin with suffix -ary) of wandreth (“evil, plight, peril, adversity, difficulty”), from Middle English wandreth, from Old Norse vandræði (“difficulty, trouble”), from vandr (“difficult, requiring pains and care”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?kw?n.d?.?i/, /?kw?n.d?i/
• (Received Pronunciation, dated) IPA^(key): /kw?n?d??.??/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?kw?n.d?.?i/, /?kw?n.d?i/, /?kw?n-/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /?kw?n.d?.?i/, /?kw?n.d?i/
• Hyphenation: quan?da?ry, quand?ary

Noun

quandary (plural quandaries)

1. A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement.

   Synonyms: perplexity, pickle, predicament, uncertainty
2. A dilemma, a difficult decision or choice.

   Synonyms: dilemma; see also Thesaurus:dilemma

   • 1995, Robert Frost, Collected Poems, Prose & Plays, page 475

     To quote the oracle of Delphi, / Love thou thy neighbor as thyself, aye, / And hate him as thyself thou hatest. / There quandary is at its greatest.

   • 1995, Douglas N. Walton & Erik C. W. Krabbe, Commitment in Dialogue: Basic Concepts of Interpersonal Reasoning, page 54

     But we may suppose that John has set his priorities in such a way that the quandary is spurious.

   • 2000, Carol Ann Strip & Gretchen Hirsch, Helping Gifted Children Soar, page 208

     What a difficult quandary for a bright, talented child!

   • 2004, Jennifer Traig, Devil in the Details: Scenes from an Obsessive Girlhood, page 181

     Then I would begin contemplating the next quandary: "Does the Torah say it's okay to portray a hooker, and is a heart of gold a mitigating factor?"

Translations

See also

• doubt
• indecision
• dilemma

Further reading

• quandary at OneLook Dictionary Search

References