dilemma English · revision 39960

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1523|origins=grc δίλημμα}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /daɪˈlɛmə/, /dɪˈlɛmə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|dilemma]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 2026)^(AHD 2024) [[der|grc|δίλημμα|tr=dílēmma|t=double proposition]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966)^(OED 2026) formed [[af|grc|δι-|λῆμμα|tr1=di-|tr2=lêmma|t1=twice, two|t2=assumption, premise]] ([[di-]] and [[lemma]]).^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986)^(AHD 2024)^(ODE 2010) The Greek noun literally meant something received or taken for granted,^(Klein 1966)^(Partridge 1966) and is related to [[grc|λαμβάνω|tr=lambánō|t=to take]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Dictionary.com 2016) Merriam-Webster thinks the Greek noun is probably a back-formation from the adjective [[m|grc|διλήμματος|tr=dilḗmmatos|t=involving two assumptions]].^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In rhetoric, a form of argument that leaves an opponent a choice between two alternatives, each unfavourable to him: 1523.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word began as a technical term of rhetoric and logic,^(Cresswell 2021)^(Ayto 2005) and the popular sense, a choice between two equally unwelcome courses, or simply a difficult position, developed from 1590, in Robert Greene.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Ayto 2005) The two alternatives were traditionally called its "horns", after the Latin term used by scholars, which gave the phrase ''on the horns of a dilemma'';^(Cresswell 2021)^(Weekley 1921) Weekley explains that they catch a person on either side.^(Weekley 1921) Johnson (1755) gave both the logical sense, "an argument equally conclusive by contrary suppositions", and the general one.^(Johnson 1755) Etymonline notes that strictly the word should be used only when someone must choose between two unfavourable alternatives,^(Etymonline) but the OED records the loose use for more than two choices,^(OED 2026) and Dictionary.com observes that today a person in a dilemma may face more than two.^(Dictionary.com 2016) A verb ''dilemma'', to put in a dilemma, appears in 1656.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1523 – a form of argument in rhetoric.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1590 – a choice between unwelcome alternatives.^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1656 – verb: to place in a dilemma.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A situation in which a person must [[choose]] between two (or more) [[alternative|alt=alternatives]] that are equally unpleasant: ''She faced the dilemma of staying in a job she disliked or moving away from her family.''^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+ # Loosely, any difficult problem that seems to have no satisfactory solution.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # (logic) A form of [[argument]] with two conditional premises and a premise that one of their conditions is true.^(Collins 2023)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dilemmatic]]

+ * [[dilemmatically]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lemma]]

+ * [[trilemma]]

+ * [[quandary]]

+ * [[predicament]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}