Etymologically
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difficult

Etymology and origin of the English word difficult

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Back-formation
First attested
c. 1400
Ultimate origin
Latin (facultās)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈdɪf.ɪ.kəlt/[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Middle English difficulte (“difficulty”),[2][3][4][5] from Latin difficultās, from dis- and facultās (“ability, power”), the source of faculty.[4] Etymonline calls it unetymological, as French has difficile and Latin difficilis.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

“Not easy, requiring effort; troublesome”: about 1400[2][6] or the 14th century.[4][7]

Semantic evolution

“Hard to understand, puzzling” is from 1556.[6] Of actions, “hard to carry out”, it is from 1586.[6] Of persons, “hard to persuade, stubborn”, is from before 1502,[6] and “hard to please, not easy to get on with” from 1589[6] or the 1580s.[2] A verb difficult, “to make difficult; to perplex”, from French difficulter, was used in the 17th century.[6][8]

Timeline

  • c. 1400 – not easy.[2][6]
  • before 1502 – of a person, stubborn.[6]
  • 1556 – hard to understand.[6]
  • 1589 – hard to please.[6]
  • before 1608 – verb, to impede.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Hard to do or achieve; needing much effort or skill.
  2. Hard to bear; trying.
  3. Hard to understand or solve.
  4. Of a person, hard to please, satisfy or manage.
  5. Hard to persuade; stubborn.

Word family

  • difficultly
  • superdifficult
  • undifficult
  • difficulty
  • faculty
  • facile
  • easy

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Cite this entry

“Difficult.” Etymologically, 15 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/difficult. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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