difficile French · revision 17276

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1330|origins=la facilis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /di.fi.sil/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: [d͡zifɪsɪl]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: [d͡zɪfɪsɪl]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): [d͡zɪfsɪl]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''difficile''' (plural difficiles)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|difficilis|t=hard, troublesome, (of a person) morose, hard to deal with]], formed with the privative prefix [[m|la|dis-]] as the opposite of [[m|la|facilis|t=easy]] (compare [[facile]]).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|3, 73b) 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”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|difficil]], [[es|difícil]] and [[it|difficile]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==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'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==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.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) In Corneille (1661) it means “demanding effort”: ''de si hautes leçons, Seigneur, sont difficiles''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1330 – First record.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * Before 1380 – Bersuire's Livy.^(TLFi)

+ * 1455 – ''Difficilement''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1587 – ''Faire la difficile'', La Noue.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|difficult]], hard: ''un travail difficile'', ''difficile à comprendre'', ''il est difficile de''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Hard of access; hard to get through: ''un chemin difficile''.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+ # Trying, hard to bear: ''des moments difficiles''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # (of a person) Hard to please, [[m|en|fussy]], picky: ''faire le difficile''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # (of a person) Hard to get on with, awkward: ''un enfant difficile''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[difficilement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[difficulté]]

+ * [[facile]]

+ * [[la|difficilis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}