problema Italian · revision 37644

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1341–1342, Boccaccio|origins=grc προβάλλω}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /proˈblɛ.ma/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''problema''' ''m'' (plural problemi)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also has the plural ''problemati'' and the form ''probema''.^(GDLI)^(DELI 1999) The word was formerly also feminine.^(Zingarelli 2010)^(DEI|3087)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|problēma|t=problem, question]], from [[grc|πρόβλημα|tr=próblēma|t=something put forward; obstacle]], from [[m|grc|προβάλλω|tr=probállō|t=to throw before, put forward]], formed from [[m|grc|προ-|tr=pro-|t=before]] and [[m|grc|βάλλω|tr=bállō|t=to throw]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Greek word was the title of a work of Aristotle in the plural.^(DEI|3087) The same Latin word gave [[fr|problème]], recorded from the 14th century, and [[es|problema]], and it spread through the European languages.^(Nocentini 2010)^(DEI|3087)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The first records are in the 14th-century Italian translation of Saint John Chrysostom and in Boccaccio, who uses the plural ''problemati'' in 1341–1342, in the sense of a question to which an answer is sought by reasoning from given premises.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) GDLI quotes the Chrysostom translation for the Pharisees' trick question about divorce: ''li proponevano alcuni problemi'' “they put some problems to him”.^(GDLI)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the 17th century, with Galileo, the word is a term of mathematics.^(DEI|3087) In 1875 Rigutini and Fanfani record it for a person whose thoughts and actions cannot be understood.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ At the end of the 1950s the meaning widened to any difficulty, especially in ''non c'è problema'', modelled on French ''il n'y a pas de problèmes'' and English ''no problem''.^(DELI 1999) Some have credited film dubbing with spreading the phrase, but Castellani Pollidori notes that it also spread into languages, such as Modern Greek, that have no such need, and Radtke sees the language of the young as the main source of its popularity.^(DELI 1999) DELI adds that ''problematica'' then took over part of the space of the worn ''problema''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses the plural ''problemati''.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1652 – ''Problematico'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1875 – Rigutini and Fanfani record the sense “person hard to understand”.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1950 – ''Problematica'' is first recorded.^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)

+ * Late 1950s – ''Problema'' widens to any difficulty, and ''non c'è problema'' spreads.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(mathematics)'' A [[m|en|problem]], a question to be solved by finding unknown quantities from given data: ''un problema di algebra''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # An important and difficult [[m|en|question]] that admits different answers: ''un problema giuridico''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # A difficult case or situation, a [[m|en|trouble]] or inconvenience: ''Trovare parcheggio in centro è un problema.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''Non c'è problema'' “no problem”, said to reassure someone that something can be done.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person who is hard to understand or a cause of worry: ''Quel ragazzo è un problema.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Zingarelli 2010)^(Gabrielli 2020)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[problematico]]

+ * [[problematica]]

+ * [[problematicità]]

+ * [[problematizzare]]

+ * [[problematicismo]]

+ * [[sottoproblema]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|problema]]

+ * [[grc|πρόβλημα|tr=próblēma]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Farsi un problema'' or ''farsi (dei) problemi'' means “to worry, to have scruples about something”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}