Etymologically
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difficile

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 18 October 2026 at 14:02. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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