Etymologically
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difficile

Etymology and origin of the French word difficile

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1330
Borrowed from
Latin difficilis
Ultimate origin
Latin (facilis)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin difficilis
French difficile

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /di.fi.sil/[1]
  • IPA: [d͡zifɪsɪl][1]
  • IPA: [d͡zɪfɪsɪl][1]
  • IPA (Quebec): [d͡zɪfsɪl][1]

Forms

difficile (plural difficiles)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin difficilis (“hard, troublesome, (of a person) morose, hard to deal with”), formed with the privative prefix dis- as the opposite of facilis (“easy”) (compare facile).[2][3][4][5][6] Littré observes that an inherited word, with the Latin stress “difficilis”, would have given a form like “difeile”, as Old French “fraile” comes from “fragilis”.[7]

Cognate with Old Occitan difficil, Spanish difícil and Italian difficile.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The FEW dates it to 1330; the TLFi's first quotation is from Bersuire's translation of Livy (before 1380), where it describes what is not easy and places hard of access (lieus estroiz et difficilz).[3][4][2]

Semantic evolution

Of a person it means hard to please or to get on with: La Noue (1587) writes that a proud nation might faire la difficile about an alliance.[2][3][7] In Corneille (1661) it means “demanding effort”: de si hautes leçons, Seigneur, sont difficiles.[2]

Timeline

  • 1330 – First record.[3][4]
  • Before 1380 – Bersuire's Livy.[2]
  • 1455 – Difficilement.[3]
  • 1587 – Faire la difficile, La Noue.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. difficult, hard: un travail difficile, difficile à comprendre, il est difficile de.[8][1]
  2. Hard of access; hard to get through: un chemin difficile.[7][2]
  3. Trying, hard to bear: des moments difficiles.[8][9]
  4. (of a person) Hard to please, fussy, picky: faire le difficile.[1][3]
  5. (of a person) Hard to get on with, awkward: un enfant difficile.[2][3]

Word family

  • difficilement

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 73b
  7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  9. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Difficile.” Etymologically, 18 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/difficile. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·