problem
(ˈprɒblɪm)
Forms: 4–7 probleme, 5– problem.
[ME. probleme, a. F. problème (14th c. in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. problēma, a. Gr. πρόβληµα, -µατ-, lit. a thing thrown or put forward; hence, a question propounded for solution, a set task, a problem, f. προβάλλειν to throw out, to put forth, f. πρό, pro-2 + βάλλειν to throw.]
† 1. A difficult or puzzling question proposed for solution; a riddle; an enigmatic statement. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Judg. xiv. 15 Faage to thi man [1388 glose thin hosebonde], and meue hym, that he shewe to thee what bitokeneth the probleme. c 1386 Chaucer Sompn. T. 511 How hadde the cherl this ymaginacioun To shewe swich a probleme to the frere. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 179 Problemys of olde likenese and figures, Whiche proved been fructuous of sentence. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 414/2 Probleme, or rydel, problema, enigma. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV 199 b, The erle of Warwicke..thought firste to proue hym a farr of, as it wer in a probleme, and after to open to him..the secret imaginations of his stomake. a 1562 P. Martyr Comm. Judges xiv. (1564) 218 b, Graue men wer wont to put forth ridles or problemes, omitting dangerous talke. 1602 Warner Alb. Eng. xiii. lxxvii. (1612) 319 Howsoere those Oracles of men were vnderstood, Double construction euer makes their Prothean Problemes good. |
2. a. A question proposed for academic discussion or scholastic disputation.
Obs. exc. Hist.| a 1529 Skelton Sp. Parrot 167 In Academia Parrot dare no probleme kepe; For Græce fari so occupyeth the chayre, That Latinum fari may fall to rest and slepe. 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 11 Semli for masters problems to dispute uppon. c 1590 Marlowe Faust. i. 113, I, that have with concise syllogisms Gravell'd the pastors of the German church, And made the flowering pride of Wittenberg Swarm to my problems. 1603 Holland Plutarch Explan. Words, Problemes, Questions propounded for to be discussed. 1624 Bp. R. Montagu Immed. Addr. 206 It is..not of force to conclude a Diuinity probleme. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 21 Hereof there want not many examples in Aristotle, through all his booke of animals; we shall instance onely in three of his Problemes. 1851 College Life t. Jas. I 65 He attended the common-place, and the problem, which were Latin dissertations read in the chapel by the graduates. |
b. Logic. The question (expressed, or, more usually, only implied) involved in a syllogism, and of which the conclusion is the solution or answer. (In
quot. 1656 restricted to one form of this.)
| 1656 Stanley Hist. Philos. vi. vi. (1701) 247/1 All Disputation is of things controverted, either by Problem or Proposition. A Problem questions both parts, as a living Creature, is it the Genus of Man or not? A Proposition questions but one part, as, is not living Creature the genus of Man? 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v., A logical or dialectical problem, say the schoolmen, consists of two parts; a subject, or subject matter, about which the doubt is raised; and a predicate or attribute, which is the thing doubted whether it be true of the subject or not. 1837–8 Hamilton Logic xv. (1860) I. 280 (transl. Esser) There are to every syllogism three..requisites..10, A doubt,—which of two contradictory predicates must be affirmed of a certain subject,—the problem or question, (problema, quæsitum); 20, The application of a decisive general rule to the doubt; and, 30, The general rule itself. Ibid. 282 The Conclusion is the Problem, (problema), Question, (quæstio, quæsitum), which was originally asked, stated now as a decision. The Problem is usually omitted in the expression of a syllogism; but is one of its essential parts. |
3. a. A doubtful or difficult question; a matter of inquiry, discussion, or thought; a question that exercises the mind.
| 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 126 It is a probleme often demaunded,..For what cause a Diuine being a great man in the Schooles,..and in writing and lecturing of rare learning; yet getting vp into the Pulpit, cannot skill of preaching. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. iii. iii. (1651) 207 Why melancholy men are witty..is a problem much controverted. 1795 Burke Th. Scarcity Wks. VII. 416 It is one of the finest problems in legislation,..‘What the state ought to take upon itself to direct..and what it ought to leave, with as little interference as possible, to individual discretion.’ 1841–4 Emerson Ess., Friendship Wks. (Bohn) I. 85 Not one step has man taken toward the solution of the problem of his destiny. 1854 Milman Lat. Chr. (1864) II. 173 Mohammed remains..an historic problem: his character, his motives, his designs, are all equally obscure. 1874 Green Short Hist. vii. §5. 384 Elizabeth..had hardly mounted the throne..when she faced the problem of social discontent. |
† b. Problematic quality; difficulty of solution.
Obs. rare—1.
| 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 142 Is it not enigmaticall and full of Probleme, to wash white in bloud? |
c. As the second element in various
Combs. and collocations describing: (
a) a supposedly insoluble quandary affecting a specified group of people or a nation; (
b) a real or imagined chronic personal difficulty, as
credibility problem,
drink problem,
health problem,
weight problem.
| 1950 M. Hay Foot of Pride vi. 161 The ship struck a mine..and all on board, save one, were drowned. A senior official of the British Immigration Office..impulsively expressed his relief that this particular Jewish problem had been solved. 1957 [see Jewish a. 1]. 1965 L. Hughes in Negro Digest Sept. 57/1, I know I am The Negro Problem. 1969 ‘J. Morris’ Fever Grass iv. 44 She had the body of a ballet dancer with a weight problem. 1970 D. Bagley Running Blind iv. 83 He had a drinking problem at one time and decided to cut it out. 1971 ‘A. Garve’ Late Bill Smith i. 15 ‘Sugar?’ ‘No, thanks. I've a waistline problem.’ 1974 E. Ambler Dr. Frigo i. 41 If Villegas had a health problem which could be helped by a change of climate [etc.]. 1977 Grimsby Even. Tel. 24 May 7/1 [He] told the court he had a drink problem and asked to be given a chance. 1978 S. Brill Teamsters ii. 48 As a convicted bank robber, the inmate has a credibility problem. |
d. In various
colloq. phrases, as
no problem, simple, easy, ‘the question does not arise’;
that's your (his, etc.) problem, used to disclaim responsibility or connection.
| 1963 Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 271 No sweat means ‘no problem’. 1967 M. Kenyon Whole Hog xxii. 217 ‘Don't you think he just might bring out the acid and the humane killer again? For me?’ ‘That's your problem.’ 1973 M. Amis Rachel Papers 117 Finally, every time I emptied my glass, he took it, put more whisky in it, and gave it back to me, saying ‘No problem’ again through his nose. 1976 L. Sanders Hamlet Warning (1977) xxiii. 207 ‘Shouldn't we tell the hotel people what to do with the debris?’.. ‘That's their problem.’ 1977 C. Forbes Avalanche Express xi. 116 ‘If I catch you fooling around I'll break your arm.’ ‘No problem,’ John assured him easily. |
4. Geom. A proposition in which something is required to be done: opposed to
theorem.
| 1570 Billingsley Euclid i. Introd. 8 A Probleme, is a proposition which requireth some action or doing. 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus iii. 53 Which..is become a point of art, and makes two Problemes in Euclide. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I, Problem, is a Proposition which relates to Practice; or which proposes something to be done; As to make a Circle passe through three given Points not lying in a Right Line. 1885 C. Leudesdorf Cremona's Proj. Geom. 135 The solution of the problem, To construct by means of its tangents the parabola which is determined by four given tangents. |
5. Physics and
Math. A question or inquiry which starting from some given conditions investigates some fact, result, or law.
Many problems in Physics and Mathematics are named after the persons who propounded or solved them:
e.g. Apollonius's problem,
Kepler's problem,
Pappus's problem,
Viviani's problem; others by a specification, as
the problem of duplication of the cube,
problem of quadrature of the circle,
problem of inscription of the heptagon (in a circle),
problem of three bodies (
quot. 1812–16), etc.
| 1570 Billingsley Euclid xi. xxxvi. 353 Consider how near this creepeth to the famous Probleme of doubling the Cube. a 1721 J. Keill tr. Maupertuis' Diss. (1734) 41 It is seen that the solution of these Problems must give the true Figures the cœlestial Bodies may be of, by fixing the Law according to which Gravity increases and decreases proportionably to the distance from the Center. 1798 Hutton Course Math. (1810) I. 2 A Problem is a proposition or a question requiring something to be done; either to investigate some truth or property, or to perform some operation. As, to find out the quantity or sum of all the three angles of any triangle... A Limited Problem is that which has but one answer or solution. An Unlimited Problem is that which has innumerable answers. And a Determinate Problem is that which has a certain number of answers. 1812–16 Playfair Nat. Phil. (1819) I. 279 The great problem in gunnery, viz. having given the weight, the magnitude, the direction, and the velocity of a projectile, to determine its path through the air..is very difficult. Ibid. II. 244 If there are three bodies, the action of any one on the other two, changes the nature of their orbits, so that the determination of their motions becomes a problem of great difficulty, distinguished by the name of the Problem of the three bodies. 1885 Watson & Burbury Math. Th. Electr. & Magn. I. 91 The actual solution of this problem consists in the determination of a function V, the potential of the system, to satisfy the [following] conditions (1) V is constant over C; [etc.]. |
6. Chess. An arrangement of pieces upon the chessboard for play in accordance with the rules of the game or other prescribed conditions, in which the player is challenged to discover the method of accomplishing a specified result. Formerly called ‘jeopardy’, ‘situation’, ‘position’. See
quots. 1890, 1894.
| 1817 Montigny Stratagems of Chess iv, These situations are in reality so many problems, the solution of which is required to be found. 1827 W. Lewis (title) Chess Problems. Being a selection of original positions. 1890 Rayner Chess Problems 5 A chess problem is an idea, or combination of ideas, expressed upon the board in accordance with a number of generally accepted principles of construction. 1894 R. F. Green Chess 21 Problems have come to be a study almost entirely distinct from that of the game proper... Their composition is regulated by elaborate rules. |
7. attrib. and
Comb., as
problem analysis,
problem-game,
problem-monger,
problem paper,
problem-programmer,
problem-situation,
problem skin,
problem-solution,
problem spot,
problem-tackler;
problem-free,
problem-ridden adjs.;
problem-wise adv.; (
b) ‘in which a problem is treated or discussed’, as
problem book,
problem column,
problem drama,
problem letter,
problem novel,
problem page,
problem picture,
problem play,
problem poem,
problem story; (
c) in sense 6, as
problem-composer,
problem composition,
problem editor,
problem tourney; (
d) ‘in which problems of a personal or social character are manifested’, as
problem case (
case n.1 8),
problem child,
problem family,
problem parent;
problem-oriented a. Computers, (of a computer language) devised in the light of the requirements of a certain class of problem;
problem-solver, one who finds solutions to difficult or perplexing questions or situations; hence
problem-solving n., the action of finding solutions to such problems; also as
adj., applied to behaviour, mental processes, equipment, etc., involved in or related to this activity;
problem tape Computers, a magnetic tape containing the numerical information for a problem.
| 1969 J. Argenti Managem. Techniques 200 (heading) Problem analysis. |
| 1931 F. M. Ford Let. 14 Mar. (1965) 200 It might have an enormous sale as a problem book. 1937 ‘L. Q. Ross’ Educ. Hyman Kaplan 2 Here was a student who might, unchecked, develop into a ‘problem case’. 1949 Koestler Promise & Fulfilment iii. iv. 328 A large number of the immigrants of recent years are psychological problem cases. |
| 1920 J. Taft in Proc. Nat. Conf. Social Work 63 The placing and replacing of a problematic child..is also costly... The problem child is such a costly, nagging, persistent proposition that.. we are forced to bring intelligence to bear upon his case. 1944 H. G. Wells '42 to '44 83 What can one forecast from America, the great problem-child of humanity? 1964 M. Argyle Psychol. & Social Probl. ix. 123 Another group, which includes problem children and psychopathic delinquents, have had discipline that was too strict and harsh. 1977 D. Beaty Excellency iv. 50 We're the bankrupt problem child of the E.E.C. |
| 1974 M. Cecil Heroines in Love ix. 213 The problem columns of all the new magazines. |
| 1890 Rayner Chess Problems 6 The history of problem composition. |
| 1895 A. W. Pinero in Daily News 27 Nov. 3/4 The problem drama is, after all, earnest drama. |
| 1898 Westm. Gaz. 6 June 9/3 In 1887 he became problem editor of the British Chess Magazine, and that occupied, with his work as judge in problem tourneys, most of his time of late. |
| 1937 W. de B. Hubert in C. P. Blacker Social Problem Group? vi. 122 It is not at present known with certainty what proportion of families showing both mental defect and social problems..contribute to the total number of problem families. 1958 Sunday Times 26 Jan. 18/6 The number of hospital admissions is six times greater in the case of children from problem families. 1977 P. Johnson Enemies of Society xiv. 191 It means more ‘problem families’ and so more crime. |
| 1964 P. Worsley in I. L. Horowitz New Sociol. 385 There is no ‘problem-free’ solution. |
| 1921 H. E. Palmer Princ. Language-Study xiii. 145 Many types of puzzles and problem-games are practically identical with mathematical problems. 1970 O. Norton Dead on Prediction i. 7 Whenever a man picks up a woman's magazine he always turns to the problem letters. |
| 1900 Daily News 17 Sept. 6/1 The healthy, virile English intellect..is naturally suspicious of morbid problem-mongers. |
| 1961 Computer Jrnl. IV. 217/1 In most if not all of the current computer program languages—called ‘problem-oriented languages’—the programmer must be concerned in some degree with how his program will be handled either on a specific computer or on a class of computers with specific characteristics. 1967, 1970 [see machine-oriented adj. s.v. machine n. 10]. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. viii. 319 These statements are part of what we call a Problem Oriented Language because they provide a language in which the problem can be described, but in which the method of solution is not described. 1974 M. Cecil Heroines in Love viii. 192 The problem page (‘Why when I have this beautiful home..do I feel the need for something more?’). |
| 1919 Granta 1 May 4/2 The solutions of the problem paper in the Mathematical Tripos. 1961 Economist 2 Dec. 909/3 Short ‘problem papers’ on points of specific difficulty may be either inspired by the staff or requested by a government office or an outside group. |
| 1932 A. S. Neill (title) The problem parent. Ibid. i. 9 There is never a problem child; there is only a problem parent. 1956 A. G. McRae Hill called Grazing x. 104 Problem children, if you like, though I prefer to think of them as the offspring of Problem Parents. 1962 Listener 7 June 976/2 The issue of the problem-parent and the uncomprehending home. |
| 1910 Punch 30 Mar. 219 (caption) The problem picture. 1979 G. MacDonald Camera xiii. 180/2 As the [nineteenth] century advanced social realism in Britain did not mature... Instead middle-class dilemmas were explored in ‘problem pictures’ with titles like ‘The Confession’,..‘The Prodigal Daughter’, etc. |
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 16 July 1/2 Who invented the term ‘problem play’?.. The phrase is new,..the thing itself dates from twenty years, to go no further back. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 13 July 2/1 A problem play,..a piece supposed to prove some particular proposition. 1941 G. Heyer Envious Casca iv. 53 A problem-play, is it? 1957 V. Brittain Testament of Experience (1979) iii. 96 My chief passion was for work..and my fourth for intellectual drama and ‘problem’ plays. 1970 R. E. C. Houghton Shakespeare's Measure for Measure 5 The very term ‘problem plays’ is loose and ambiguous—were they problems to their author, or are they only problems to the modern critic?.. The most intelligible use of the term would be for a play primarily concerned to present a moral problem. |
| 1897 Daily News 9 Dec. 8/2 He has..given a fuller expression of himself in powerful ‘problem’ poems. |
| 1970 O. Dopping Computers & Data Processing xix. 305 Those who design programming systems..are sometimes called system programmers. In contrast, the user's normal programmers are sometimes called problem programmers or application programmers. |
| 1924 R. Graves Mock Beggar Hall 59 A disturbing problem-ridden affair demanding the comments of a moralist. 1950 Mind LIX. 385 The problem-situation involving rational argument and discussion. 1978 J. Dunn in Hookway & Pettit Action & Interpretation 169 There is no doubt much redundancy and not a little error of one kind and another in agents' characterisations of their problem situations. |
| 1970 Cape Times 28 Oct. 3/2 (Advt.), A daily cleanser for problem skins. |
| 1956 J. Klein Study of Groups 192 (heading) Cooperative versus solitary problem-solution. |
| 1899 J. Milne Romance of Pro-Consul xvi. 173 He [sc. Sir George Grey] was the problem-solver called in late. 1929 R. Frost Let. 6 Jan. (1964) 194, I don't believe in myself as a problem-solver. 1974 Times 31 Aug. 4/6 Practical problem-solvers can contribute much to education. 1979 Dædalus Summer 148 Pragmatism..is a fairy tale of energies magically released..into what Dewey called the ‘situation’, jointly apprehended by the problem-solvers involved. |
| 1931 Psychol. Rev. XXXVIII. 337 Problem-solving by insight is regarded..as qualitatively different from problem-solving on the basis of trial and error. 1964 Language XL. 237 Most problem-solving situations involve concept evocation rather than the formation of new concepts. 1966 A. Battersby Math. in Managem. i. 15 A computer is said to have applied a problem-solving programme to the proposition that the base angles of an isosceles triangle are equal. 1978 Amer. Poetry Rev. July/Aug. 38/4 Every once in a while the problem-solving yields to an almost basking, sunny Calvinism. 1979 Yale Apr. 4/2 Man is a problem-solving animal. |
| 1908 Daily Chron. 15 Jan. 3/2 The problem spot in Africa now is the Congo. |
| 1963 Times 29 Jan. 9/4 Contributing to a Forum, colliding politely at a Meeting Point, joining in the domestic Parliament of a Woman's Hour, onward the problem-tacklers go. |
| 1948 Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation III. 9 It was intended that the routine tapes should contain all the orders, the table tapes should contain numerical information of a general nature, comparable to function tables used in manual computing, and the problem tape should contain numerical information specific to the problem being solved. 1956 G. A. Montgomerie Digital Calculating Machines x. 213 The input tapes are of three kinds. First the problem tape containing the numerical information for a set of data and also, usually, some instructions. |
| 1901 S. S. Blackburne (title) Problem Terms and Characteristics. |
| a 1859 De Quincey Posth. Wks. (1891) I. 37 An idea sketched problem-wise. |
Hence
† ˈprobleming, academical or scholastic discussion: see 2;
ˈproblemize v. intr. to discuss problems, theorize, speculate.
| 1657 J. Watts Vind. Ch. Eng. 96, I fell to Common placing and probleming (as it is called in the Colledge). 1884 Clark Russell Jack's Courtship xxxii, To drop all this problemizing for the plain truth. 1890 ― Ocean Trag. II. xvii. 88 It was a thing to set me problemising. |
______________________________
▸
to have a problem with colloq. (
orig. U.S.) to have a disagreement with; to have an objection to or be unable to accept (someone or something); to take issue with. Freq. in negative constructions.
| 1966 Los Angeles Times 8 July ii. 1/4 We have no problem with those who protest because in a sense the Peace Corps itself is a form of protest. 1978 T. M. Horner Jonathan loved David 149, I have a problem with Nelson's handling of specific biblical material here. 1997 Daily Tel. 30 Apr. 19/3 He never had a problem with me.., but it is hard for me to see him support things that are extremely anti-gay. 2000 New Republic 29 May 50/3 He's committing adultery—you got a problem with that? |