LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininethird declension

difficultās

difficultās f (genitive difficultātis)
Classical[dɪf.fɪˈkʊɫ.taːs]Ecclesiastical[dif.fiˈkul.tas]

Meaning

  1. difficulty, distress, trouble, hardship
    Erat ob hās causās summa difficultās […].For these reasons, the difficulty was extreme […] .c. 52 BCE, Julius Caesar, Commentarii de bello Gallico 4.24

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

difficulty
difficultās — in Seneca, ch. XVI

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativedifficultāsdifficultātēs
genitivedifficultātisdifficultātum
dativedifficultātīdifficultātibus
accusativedifficultātemdifficultātēs
ablativedifficultātedifficultātibus
vocativedifficultāsdifficultātēs

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

angustiis premi, difficultatibus affici
to be in a dilemma; in difficulties.
difficultas annonae (Imp. Pomp. 15. 44)
want of corn; scarcity in the corn-market.
in angustiis, difficultatibus, esse or versari
to be in a dilemma; in difficulties.
in summa difficultate nummaria versari (Verr. 2. 28. 69)
to be in severe pecuniary straits.

diffĭcultas, ātis (
I. gen. plur. difficultatium, Liv. 9, 31, 14; Gell. 14, 2, 3), f. difficilis, difficulty, trouble, distress, poverty, want.
I. In gen. (freq. in good prose in sing. and plur.
(a). With gen.: ineundi consilii, Cic. Rep. 1, 34: discendi (with labor), id. Div. 1, 47, 105: dicendi, id. de Or. 1, 26, 120: navigandi, id. ib. 1, 18, 82; Caes. B. G. 3, 12 fin.: belli gerendi, id. ib. 3, 10: faciundi pontis, id. ib. 4, 17, 2 et saep.: viarum, id. ib. 7, 56, 2; id. B. C. 1, 70; cf. loci, Sall. J. 98, 5; Tac. Agr. 17 fin.: rerum, Cic. Div. in Caecil. 12; Sall. C. 57, 2; Suet. Tib. 16; 21: morbi, Cels. 3, 1; cf. urinae, id. 2, 1 al.: vecturae, Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 82: summa navium, id. ib. 2, 5, 20: rei frumentariae, Caes. B. G. 7, 17, 3: annonae, Suet. Aug. 41; cf. nummaria, want. scarcity of money, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 28; Suet. Tib. 48: domestica, distressed circumstances, Cic. Cat. 1, 6, 14 et saep.—
(b). Absol.: ne qua ob eam suspicionem difficultas eveniat, Plaut. Epid. 2, 2, 105; Ter. Hec. 4, 4, 45: perspicio quantum in agendo difficultatis et quantum laboris sit habitura (altera pars actionis), Cic. Clu. 1, 2; so with labor, Quint. 11, 1, 68; and: habere difficultatem, Cic. Brut. 7; id. Att. 13, 33: magnam res ad receptum difficultatem afferebat, Caes. B. C. 3, 51, 6; so with ad: haec res Caesari difficultatem ad consilium capiendum afferebat, id. B. G. 7, 10, 1; and without it, Cic. Q. Fr. 1, 1, 11: delabi in difficultates, id. Fat. 17: erat in magnis difficultatibus res, ne, etc., Caes. B. G. 7, 35 et saep.—*
II. In partic. (acc. to difficilis, no. II.), obstinacy, captiousness, moroseness: arrogantiam pertulit, difficultatem exsorbuit, Cic. Mur. 9, 19.

Origins

From difficilis (“difficult, troublesome”) + -tās (with u before l pinguis, i.e. [ɫ]).

Descendants
  • Catalandificultat
  • Englishdifficulty
  • Englishdifficultfrom English difficulty
  • Frenchdifficultéfrom Old French difficulté
  • Romaniandificultatefrom Old French difficulté
  • Italiandifficoltà
  • Occitandificultat
  • Portuguesedificuldade
  • Spanishdificultad
  • Haitian Creoledifikiltefrom Old French difficulté

Quick answers

What does difficultās mean in Latin?
difficultās, a noun, means “difficulty, distress, trouble, hardship”.
What is the genitive of difficultās?
The genitive singular is difficultātis. difficultās is feminine, third declension.
How do you pronounce difficultās?
In classical Latin, [dɪf.fɪˈkʊɫ.taːs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [dif.fiˈkul.tas].