problema

Forms

problema m (plural problemas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin problēma (“a question proposed for solution”), from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα (próblēma, “task; question put forward”).^[2][3][1][4] Corominas records it from Covarrubias (1611); the CDH has it from 1424, in Enrique de Villena.^[5][6][7]

The Greek noun comes from προβάλλω (probállō, “to throw before; to put forward”), of πρό (pró, “before”) and βάλλω (bállō, “to throw”).^{[2][8][9][10]} Wikcionario traces the verb to Proto-Indo-European *gʷelh₁-.^[11] In Greek it named anything that projects or lies in front of one, such as a headland, an obstacle or a barrier, then a task and a question put forward for discussion.^[10][9]

The same word is Catalan problema, French problème, Italian problema and Portuguese problema.^[11] French borrowed it from Latin about 1380.^[12] Corominas treats it in the article on emblema, beside símbolo and émbolo, other Greek words formed from the same verb.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Villena's Tratado de consolación (1424) the word means a thesis to be proved: plenty of examples could be brought verificando el problema “proving the proposition”.^[6] In his glosses on the Aeneid (1427–1428) he cites Aristotle's Problemas, and Juan de Mena's Debate de la Razón (c. 1445–1456) urges sus fiçiones y problemas desechemos como espinas “let us cast away their fictions and problems like thorns”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija's Latin dictionary of 1492 renders Latin problema by la question.^[7] Covarrubias in 1611 explains it as a question put in a book whose author then solves the doubt himself, like the Problems of Aristotle.^[13] The Diccionario de Autoridades defines it as a question proposed to exercise the wit, which can be argued for and against, and adds the geometric problem, a practical proposition such as dividing a line into two equal parts, and the problema indeterminado of algebra, which has infinitely many solutions.^[14]

The Academy's 1884 edition gives the general sense “a question to be cleared up” and the mathematical one of finding unknown quantities from known data, with the Greek etymology.^[15] The everyday sense of a difficulty or trouble, often in the plural, is now in the DLE.^[3][16] In the Americas hacerse problema means “to worry”.^[17] The word passed into Tagalog, Cebuano and Chavacano as problema.^[1]

Timeline

• 1424 – Enrique de Villena, Tratado de consolación: the earliest hit in the CDH.^[6]
• 1427–1428 – Villena cites the Problemas of Aristotle.^[6]
• 1488 – the earliest text with the word in the Old Spanish Textual Archive.^[18]
• 1492 – Nebrija gives la question for Latin problema.^[7]
• 1591 – the first record from the Americas, in Mexico City: este arduo y diffícil problema de las lluvias.^[19]
• 1611 – Covarrubias explains the word as Greek, citing the Problems of Aristotle; the DCECH's first record.^[13][5]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades adds the senses of geometry and algebra.^[14]
• 1884 – the Academy defines it as “a question to be cleared up” and gives the Greek etymology.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. A question to be cleared up or settled.^[3][20]
2. A proposition or difficulty whose solution is doubtful; a dilemma.^[3][1]
3. A set of facts or circumstances that stand in the way of an aim; a problem or obstacle: El problema es que no hay dinero.^[3][1]
4. (often in the plural) Trouble, worry: Ese coche viejo no me da más que problemas.^[3][1]
5. (mathematics, science) A statement of a situation whose unknown answer is to be found by scientific methods, as in problema de álgebra; a problema determinado has one or a limited number of solutions, a problema indeterminado an unlimited number.^[3][16]

Word family

• problemático
• aproblemar

Related words

• emblema
• símbolo
• émbolo
• Latin problēma
• French problème

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. problema
3. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. problema
4. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 561
6. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. problema
7. ^ a b c Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. problema
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 571
9. ^ a b Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. problema
10. ^ a b Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
11. ^ a b Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. problème
13. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1231
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, 388
15. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 867
16. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. problema
17. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. problema
18. ^ Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (2026), Old Spanish Textual Archive (OSTA): semi-paleographic transcriptions of Old Spanish texts, ed. Francisco Gago Jover et al., https://www.hispanicseminary.org, p. s.v. problema
19. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. problema
20. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. problema