problem

See also: Problem and problém

English

Alternative forms

• probleme (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English probleme, from Middle French probleme, from Latin problema, from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα (próblēma, “anything thrown forward, hindrance, obstacle, anything projecting, a headland, promontory”), from προβάλλω (probállō, “to throw or lay something in front of someone, to put forward”), from προ- (pro-, “in front of”) + βάλλω (bállō, “to throw, to cast, to hurl”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒbləm/
• (dated, Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɒblɪm/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɹɑbləm/
• Hyphenation: prob‧lem

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

problem (plural problems)

1. A difficulty that has to be resolved or dealt with.

   She's leaving because she faced numerous problems to do with racism.

   • 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter I, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 639762314, page 0029:

     “ […] it is not fair of you to bring against mankind double weapons ! Dangerous enough you are as woman alone, without bringing to your aid those gifts of mind suited to problems which men have been accustomed to arrogate to themselves.”

   • 2014 March 7, Nicole Vulser, “Perfume manufacturers must cope with the scarcity of precious supplies”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 190, number 13, page 30:

     The perfume industry is facing a major problem: maintaining constant levels of quality is crucial, but it is increasingly difficult to obtain a regular supply of all the necessary natural ingredients.

2. A question to be answered, schoolwork exercise.
3. A puzzling circumstance.
4. Objection.

   You got a problem with that?

5. (climbing) A set of moves required to complete a climb

Antonyms

• solution

Hyponyms

• Entscheidungsproblem

Derived terms

• alcohol problem
• algorithmic problem
• Apollonian problem
• Archimedes' problem
• behavior problem
• core problem
• decision problem
• drug problem
• fencepost problem
• fiscal problem
• halting problem
• logic problem
• mathematical problem
• no problem
• problematic
• problematical
• problematize

 

Translations

difficulty

• Albanian: çështje (sq) f, zavall (sq) m, problem (sq) m
• Amharic: ችግር (čəggər)
• Arabic: مُشْكِلَة‎ f (muškila)

  Moroccan Arabic: مشكلة‎ (muškila), مصيبة‎ (muṣība)

• Aragonese: problema m
• Armenian: խնդիր (hy) (xndir)
• Asturian: problema m
• Azerbaijani: problem (az), məsələ (az)
• Bashkir: мәсьәлә (mäs’älä)
• Basque: arazo
• Belarusian: прабле́ма f (prabljéma)
• Bengali: প্রব্লেম (prôblem)
• Breton: kudenn (br) f
• Bulgarian: пробле́м (bg) m (problém)
• Burmese: ပြဿနာ (my) (pra.ssa.na)
• Catalan: problema (ca) m
• Cebuano: kalisud
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 問題 (zh), 问题 (zh) (wèntí), 困難 (zh), 困难 (zh) (kùnnán), 難題 (zh), 难题 (zh) (nántí), 麻煩 (zh), 麻烦 (zh) (máfán)

• Czech: problém (cs) m
• Danish: problem (da) n
• Dutch: probleem (nl) n
• Esperanto: problemo
• Estonian: küsimus (et), takistus (et), kitsikus, mure, probleem
• Finnish: ongelma (fi), (old slang) probleemi (fi), vaikeus (fi)
• French: problème (fr) m
• Galician: problema (gl) m
• Georgian: პრობლემა (ṗroblema)
• German: Problem (de) n
• Greek: πρόβλημα (el) n (próvlima)

  Ancient: ἀπορία f (aporía)

• Hebrew: בְּעָיָה‎ f (be'aya)
• Hiligaynon: palaligban, problema
• Hindi: समस्या (hi) f (samasyā), मसला (hi) ? (maslā), प्रश्न (hi) m (praśna), दिक़्क़त f (diqqat), दिक्कत (hi) f (dikkat)
• Hungarian: probléma (hu), baj (hu), gond (hu)
• Icelandic: vandamál (is) n
• Indonesian: masalah (id)
• Interlingue: problema
• Italian: problema (it) m
• Japanese: 問題 (ja) (もんだい, mondai)
• Kazakh: мәселе (mäsele)
• Khmer: ចំណោទ (km) (cɑmnaot)
• Korean: 문제 (ko) (munje)
• Kyrgyz: проблема (ky) (problema), көйгөй (köygöy), маселе (ky) (masele)
• Lao: ບັນຫາ (ban hā)
• Latvian: problēma (lv) f
• Lithuanian: problema f
• Macedonian: про́блем m (próblem)

• Malay: masalah (ms), kesulitan, kemusykilan
• Maltese: problema f
• Maore Comorian: taãɓu class 9/10
• Maori: rarunga
• Mirandese: porblema m
• Mongolian: хүндрэл (mn) (hündrel)
• Neapolitan: prubblema
• Ngazidja Comorian: shaka class 5/6
• Norman: problième m (Jersey)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: problem (no) n

  Nynorsk: problem n

• Occitan: problèma (oc) m
• Old English: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: مشکل‎ (fa) (moškel), مسئله‎ (fa) (mas'ale)
• Polish: problem (pl) m, kłopot (pl) m
• Portuguese: problema (pt) m
• Romanian: problemă (ro) f
• Russian: пробле́ма (ru) f (probléma)
• Sanskrit: समस्या (sa) f (samasyā)
• Scottish Gaelic: duilgheadas m, staing f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: про̀бле̄м m

  Latin: pròblēm (sh) m

• Slovak: problém (sk) m
• Slovene: problem m
• Spanish: problema (es) m, dificultad (es) f, lío (es) m
• Swahili: tatizo (sw) class 5/6, masaibu (sw)
• Swedish: problem (sv) n
• Tagalog: problema (tl)
• Tajik: мушкил (tg) (muškil), масъала (masʾala), проблема (problema)
• Tatar: мәсьәлә (mäs’älä)
• Thai: ปัญหา (th) (bpan-hǎa)
• Tibetan: རྙོག་དྲ (rnyog dra)
• Turkish: sorun (tr), problem (tr)
• Turkmen: problem, problema, mesele
• Tuvaluan: fakalavelave
• Ukrainian: пробле́ма f (probléma)
• Urdu: سمسیا‎ m (samasyā), مسئلہ‎ m (maslā), پرشن‎ m (praśna)
• Uzbek: masala (uz), muammo (uz), problema (uz)
• Vietnamese: vấn đề (vi)
• Walloon: rujhe (wa) f, aroke (wa) f, arnåjhe (wa) f, rascråwe (wa) f
• Welsh: problem (cy) f
• Yiddish: פּראָבלעם‎ m (problem)
• Yucatec Maya: toop

schoolwork exercise

• Arabic: مَسْأَلَة‎ (ar) f (masʾala), مُشْكِلَة‎ f (muškila)
• Armenian: խնդիր (hy) (xndir), հարց (hy) (harcʿ)
• Asturian: problema m
• Bashkir: мәсьәлә (mäs’älä)
• Basque: buruketa (eu)
• Breton: poelladenn f
• Catalan: problema (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 題目 (zh), 题目 (zh) (tímù), 習題 (zh), 习题 (zh) (xítí), 課題 (zh), 课题 (zh) (kètí)

• Dutch: oefening (nl) f, probleem (nl) n
• Estonian: harjutus
• Finnish: harjoitus (fi), harjoitustehtävä (fi)
• French: problème (fr) m
• Galician: problema (gl) m
• Georgian: ამოცანა (amocana)
• German: Übung (de) f
• Greek: πρόβλημα (el) n (próvlima)

  Ancient: πρόβλημα n (próblēma)

• Hungarian: feladat (hu), példa (hu)
• Interlingua: problema
• Korean: 문제 (ko) (munje)

• Latvian: uzdevums m
• Macedonian: задача f (zadača), проблем m (problem)
• Maori: rapanga
• Middle English: probleme
• Norman: problième m (Jersey)
• Norwegian: oppgave (no) m
• Occitan: problèma (oc) m
• Persian: مسئله‎ (fa) (mas'ale)
• Polish: zadanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: problema (pt) m, exercício (pt) m
• Romanian: problemă (ro) f, exercițiu (ro) n
• Russian: зада́ча (ru) f (zadáča), зада́ние (ru) n (zadánije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: про̀бле̄м m, зада́так m, једна̀џба f

  Latin: pròblēm (sh) m, zadátak (sh) m, jednàdžba (sh) f

• Spanish: problema (es) m, ejercicio (es) m
• Swahili: masaibu (sw)
• Thai: โจทย์ (th) (jòot)
• Turkish: soru (tr)
• Walloon: problinme (wa) m

puzzling circumstance

• Bashkir: мәсьәлә (mäs’älä)
• Basque: arazo, buruhauste
• Bengali: প্রব্লেম (prôblem)
• Catalan: problema (ca) m
• Cebuano: problema
• Dutch: probleem (nl) n
• Estonian: mõistatus
• Greek: πρόβλημα (el) n (próvlima)
• Lao: please add this translation if you can
• Middle English: probleme
• Norwegian: utfordring (no) m

• Portuguese: problema (pt) m
• Romanian: problemă (ro) f
• Russian: пробле́ма (ru) f (probléma), зада́ча (ru) f (zadáča)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: про̀бле̄м m

  Latin: pròblēm (sh) m

• Spanish: problema (es) m, embrollo (es) m, lío (es) m, bronca (es) f (Mexico)
• Swahili: tatizo (sw), masaibu (sw)
• Tagalog: problema (tl)
• Thai: เรื่อง (th) (rʉ̂ʉang)

Adjective

problem (comparative more problem, superlative most problem)

1. (of a person or an animal) Difficult to train or guide; unruly.
2. Causing a problem; problematic; troublesome.
   • 2010, A. M. Aleksander, The Pride of the King‎^[1]:

     It is more problem to my family than to me.

See also

• trouble

Further reading

• problem in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• problem in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• problem at OneLook Dictionary Search

---

Azerbaijani

Etymology

Ultimately from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα (próblēma).

Noun

problem (definite accusative problemi, plural problemlər)

1. problem

Declension

Declension of problem

	singular	plural
nominative	problem	problemlər
definite accusative	problemi	problemləri
dative	problemə	problemlərə
locative	problemdə	problemlərdə
ablative	problemdən	problemlərdən
definite genitive	problemin	problemlərin

Possessive forms of problem

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	problemim	problemlərim
sənin (“your”)	problemin	problemlərin
onun (“his/her/its”)	problemi	problemləri
bizim (“our”)	problemimiz	problemlərimiz
sizin (“your”)	probleminiz	problemləriniz
onların (“their”)	problemi or problemləri	problemləri
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	problemimi	problemlərimi
sənin (“your”)	problemini	problemlərini
onun (“his/her/its”)	problemini	problemlərini
bizim (“our”)	problemimizi	problemlərimizi
sizin (“your”)	probleminizi	problemlərinizi
onların (“their”)	problemini or problemlərini	problemlərini
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	problemimə	problemlərimə
sənin (“your”)	probleminə	problemlərinə
onun (“his/her/its”)	probleminə	problemlərinə
bizim (“our”)	problemimizə	problemlərimizə
sizin (“your”)	probleminizə	problemlərinizə
onların (“their”)	probleminə or problemlərinə	problemlərinə
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	problemimdə	problemlərimdə
sənin (“your”)	problemində	problemlərində
onun (“his/her/its”)	problemində	problemlərində
bizim (“our”)	problemimizdə	problemlərimizdə
sizin (“your”)	probleminizdə	problemlərinizdə
onların (“their”)	problemində or problemlərində	problemlərində
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	problemimdən	problemlərimdən
sənin (“your”)	problemindən	problemlərindən
onun (“his/her/its”)	problemindən	problemlərindən
bizim (“our”)	problemimizdən	problemlərimizdən
sizin (“your”)	probleminizdən	problemlərinizdən
onların (“their”)	problemindən or problemlərindən	problemlərindən
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	problemimin	problemlərimin
sənin (“your”)	probleminin	problemlərinin
onun (“his/her/its”)	probleminin	problemlərinin
bizim (“our”)	problemimizin	problemlərimizin
sizin (“your”)	probleminizin	problemlərinizin
onların (“their”)	probleminin or problemlərinin	problemlərinin

---

Danish

Noun

problem n (singular definite problemet, plural indefinite problemer)

1. problem

Declension

Declension of problem

neuter gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	problem	problemet	problemer	problemerne
genitive	problems	problemets	problemers	problemernes

Derived terms

• helseproblem
• hovedproblem
• problembarn
• rygproblem
• søvnproblem
• vægtproblem

 

References

• “problem” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “problem” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

---

Middle English

Noun

problem

1. Alternative form of probleme

---

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

problem n (definite singular problemet, indefinite plural problem or problemer, definite plural problema or problemene)

1. problem

Derived terms

Terms derived from problem

• helseproblem
• hovedproblem

• problembarn
• ryggproblem

• søvnproblem
• vektproblem

References

• “problem” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

---

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prʊˈbleːm/

Noun

problem n (definite singular problemet, indefinite plural problem, definite plural problema)

1. problem

Derived terms

Terms derived from problem

• helseproblem
• problembarn

• ryggproblem
• søvnproblem

• vektproblem

References

• “problem” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

---

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈprɔb.lɛm/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

problem m inan

1. problem

Declension

declension of problem

	singular	plural
nominative	problem	problemy
genitive	problemu	problemów
dative	problemowi	problemom
accusative	problem	problemy
instrumental	problemem	problemami
locative	problemie	problemach
vocative	problemie	problemy

Further reading

• problem in Polish dictionaries at PWN

---

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prǒbleːm/

Noun

pròblēm m (Cyrillic spelling про̀бле̄м)

1. problem

Declension

Declension of problem

	singular	plural
nominative	problem	problemi
genitive	problema	problema
dative	problemu	problemima
accusative	problem	probleme
vocative	probleme	problemi
locative	problemu	problemima
instrumental	problemom	problemima

---

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /prʊˈbleːm/, /prɔ-/, /-ˈblɛːm/
• Hyphenation: pro‧blem

• Audio (of "ett problem," meaning "a problem")

  (file)

Noun

problem n

1. problem; difficulty
2. problem; schoolwork exercise

Declension

Declension of problem
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	problem	problemet	problem	problemen
Genitive	problems	problemets	problems	problemens

Synonyms

• fråga
• komplikation
• kris
• spörsmål
• tal
• uppgift

Related terms

• problematik
• problematisera
• problematisering
• problematisk
• problemavfall
• problembarn
• problembaserad
• problemdiktning
• problemdrama
• problemformulering
• problemfri
• problemfylld
• problemhärva
• probleminventering
• problemkomplex
• problemkredit
• problemlös
• problemlösare
• problemlösning
• problemområde
• problemorienterad
• problemsituation
• problemställning
• problemtyngd

 

References

• problem in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)

Anagrams

• plomber

---

Vilamovian

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

problem n

1. problem