issue

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɪʃ.uː/, /ˈɪs.juː/, US /ˈɪʃ.uː/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English issue, borrowed from Old French issue (“a way out, exit; final event”) (earlier eissue),^[2][3][4] the feminine past participle of issir (“to go out”),^[2][3][5] through a Romance form *exūta,^[6][7] from Latin exīre (“to go out”),^[2][3][6] formed from ex- (“out”) and īre (“to go”).^[2][3] Etymonline and the AHD trace īre to Proto-Indo-European *ei- (“to go”).^[3][6] The verb is inherited from Middle English issuen, from the noun or from Old French issu, the past participle.^[3][5] It is related to exit.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

An exit, a going or flowing out: probably before 1300, in Kyng Alisaunder,^[2] or about 1300.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Offspring, descendants, is first recorded about 1378 in Piers Plowman, probably after Old French.^[2][3] Proceeds from land and the outcome or result of an action are 14th-century senses.^[7][3] The verb, of water, “to flow out”, and of people, “to go out, sally forth”, is from the mid-14th century.^[3] A discharge of blood or fluid from the body is from the 1520s.^[3] In law, the point in question between parties is from the 16th century, earlier in join issue, “to submit jointly for decision”, in the 15th.^[7] “To send out” is from the mid-15th century, and “to send out with authority” from about 1600.^[3] The public giving-out of something, such as stamps or banknotes, is a 19th-century sense from the verb,^[7] and “to supply someone with something” is from 1925.^[3] The sense “a personal problem or difficulty”, as in has issues, is recent.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – an exit, outflow.^[3][2]
• mid-14th century – verb, to flow out.^[3]
• c. 1378 – offspring (Piers Plowman).^[2]
• 14th century – proceeds; outcome.^[7]
• 15th century – join issue.^[7]
• 1520s – a discharge from the body.^[3]
• 16th century – a point in dispute.^[7]
• c. 1600 – verb, to send out with authority.^[3]
• 19th century – a putting into circulation.^[7]
• 1925 – verb, to supply someone with.^[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. An act of flowing or going out.
2. The act of putting out or publishing officially.
3. Something issued, such as a set of stamps, or a single copy of a periodical.
4. A point of discussion or dispute; a matter of public concern.
5. An outcome or result.
6. (law) Offspring.
7. A personal problem or difficulty.

Verb

1. To go or flow out.
2. To come as a result; to proceed from a source.
3. To put into circulation or publish officially.
4. To supply or distribute: issued with uniforms.

Word family

• issuer
• issueless
• single-issue
• overissue
• underissue
• reissue
• unissued

Related words

• exit
• itinerary
• ambition
• transit

Usage notes

Merriam-Webster gives the pronunciation “ISH-ə” as chiefly Southern US and “ISS-yoo” as chiefly British.^[9] In the coal trade of the Tyne and Wear, the issue was the amount of coal agreed to be taken from a pit.^[10]

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 f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)