difficile
English
Etymology
From late Old French difficile, from Latin difficilis, from dis- + facilis (“easy”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈdɪ.fɪ.saɪl/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈdɪ.fə.səl/
Adjective
difficile (comparative more difficile, superlative most difficile)
- (obsolete) Hard to work with; stubborn.
- (obsolete) Difficult.
- 1603, Michel de Montaigne, John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], OCLC 946730821:, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.185:
- […] forasmuch as he was to judge of an internall beauty, of a difficile knowledge, and abstruse discovery.
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Translations
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French
Etymology
From Old French difficile, from Latin difficilis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /di.fi.sil/
audio (file)
Adjective
difficile (plural difficiles)
- difficult
- choosy, fussy, picky
Synonyms
- compliqué
- exigeant
Antonyms
- facile
Derived terms
- difficilement
- difficulté
- faire le difficile
- la critique est aisée mais l’art est difficile
Further reading
- “difficile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Interlingua
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /difˈfi.tsi.le/
Adjective
difficile (comparative plus difficile, superlative le plus difficile)
- difficult
Antonyms
- facile
Italian
Etymology
From Latin difficilis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /difˈfi.t͡ʃi.le/
Audio (file) - Rhymes: -itʃile
- Hyphenation: dif‧fì‧ci‧le
Adjective
difficile (plural difficili, superlative difficilissimo)
- difficult, hard
- Antonym: facile
Noun
difficile m or f by sense (plural difficili)
- person who is intractable or hard to please
- 2012, John Green, Giorgia Grilli, transl., Colpa delle Stelle [The Fault in our Stars], Mondadori, page 36:
- Mi divertivo a fare la difficile.
- I enjoyed being coy.
- (literally, “I enjoyed being a hard-to-please person.”)
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Noun
difficile m (plural difficili)
- difficult time or moment
- il difficile ormai è superato
- the hard time is now over
Related terms
- difficilmente
- difficoltà
Latin
Etymology 1
From difficilis (“difficult, troublesome”) + -ē.
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /difˈfi.ki.leː/, [d̪ɪfˈfɪkɪɫ̪eː]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /difˈfi.t͡ʃi.le/, [d̪ifˈfiːt͡ʃile]
Adverb
difficilē (comparative difficilius, superlative difficilissimē)
- with difficulty
Synonyms
- (with difficulty): difficiliter, difficulter
Antonyms
- (with difficulty): faciliter, facile
Related terms
- difficilis
- difficiliter
- difficilius
- difficillimus
- difficultās
- difficulter
Etymology 2
Inflected form of difficilis (“difficult, troublesome”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /difˈfi.ki.le/, [d̪ɪfˈfɪkɪɫ̪ɛ]
- (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /difˈfi.t͡ʃi.le/, [d̪ifˈfiːt͡ʃile]
Adjective
difficile
- nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of difficilis
References
- “difficile”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- difficile in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
Middle French
Adjective
difficile m or f (plural difficiles)
- difficult
Norman
Etymology
From Old French difficile, from Latin difficilis.
Adjective
difficile m or f
- (Jersey, Guernsey) difficult
Derived terms
- difficilement (“difficultly, with difficulty”)
Old French
Alternative forms
- difficil (masculine oblique singular)
Adjective
difficile m (oblique and nominative feminine singular difficile)
- difficult
Descendants
- French: difficile
- Norman: difficile (Jersey, Guernsey)