different between grief vs difficulty

English

Etymology

From Middle English greef, gref, from Old French grief (“grave, heavy, grievous, sad”), from Latin gravis (“heavy, grievous, sad”). Doublet of grave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i?f/
• Rhymes: -i?f

Noun

grief (countable and uncountable, plural griefs or grieves)

1. Suffering, hardship. [from early 13th c.]
2. Pain of mind arising from misfortune, significant personal loss, bereavement, misconduct of oneself or others, etc.; sorrow; sadness. [from early 14th c.]
3. (countable) Cause or instance of sorrow or pain; that which afflicts or distresses; trial.

Derived terms

• give someone grief

Translations

Verb

grief (third-person singular simple present griefs, present participle griefing, simple past and past participle griefed)

1. (online gaming) To deliberately harass and annoy or cause grief to other players of a game in order to interfere with their enjoyment of it; especially, to do this as one’s primary activity in the game. [from late 1990s]

Usage notes

• This verb is most commonly found in the gerund-participle griefing and the derived noun griefer.

Related terms

• grievance
• grieve
• grievous

Further reading

• grief on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• griefer on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• grief in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• grief in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• grief at OneLook Dictionary Search

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch grief, from Old French grief, from Vulgar Latin *grevis, from Latin gravis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?rif/
• Hyphenation: grief
• Rhymes: -if

Noun

grief f (plural grieven, diminutive griefje n)

1. (chiefly in the plural) grievance, complaint, bone to pick, issue

Derived terms

• grieven

French

Etymology

From Old French grief, from Vulgar Latin grevis (influenced by its antonym, levis), from Latin gravis, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *g?réh?us. Doublet of grave.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??i.j?f/

Adjective

grief (feminine singular griève, masculine plural griefs, feminine plural grièves)

1. (archaic, literary) grievous

Derived terms

• grièvement

Noun

grief m (plural griefs)

1. complaint
2. grief
3. grievance (formal complaint filed with an authority)

Further reading

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

Anagrams

• figer

Ladin

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *grevis, from Latin gravis.

Adjective

grief m (feminine singular grieva, masculine plural griefs, feminine plural grieves)

1. arduous
2. difficult
3. steep

Old French

Alternative forms

• gref (typically Anglo-Norman)

Etymology

Probably from the verb grever, or from Vulgar Latin grevis (influenced by its antonym, levis), from Latin gravis.

Noun

grief m (oblique plural griés, nominative singular griés, nominative plural grief)

1. pain; anguish; suffering

Descendants

• French: grief
• ? Middle Dutch: grief
  • Dutch: grief
• ? Middle English: greef, gref
  • English: grief

Adjective

grief m (oblique and nominative feminine singular grieve)

1. sad

Descendants

• French: grief (archaic, literary)

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.