Other forms: problems
A problem is something wrong that has to be dealt with. The car will not start, the bill is twice what it should be, two families booked the same cottage for August.
In maths a problem is a question set to be worked out, with no trouble attached at all: solve the problem, a word problem, three problems on the board. Watch the small words — a problem WITH something, and you HAVE, SOLVE, FIX, CAUSE or POSE a problem. A person can be the problem: 'he's a problem', 'a problem child'. The adjective is problematic, and the everyday reply 'no problem' answers thanks or a small request. English wants an article here: 'I have a problem', never 'I have problem'.
1nounproblemSomething wrong that needs to be put right.~16%
“There is a problem with the heating in the back rooms.”
2nounquestionA question set to be worked out, especially in maths.~82%
“The last problem on the sheet took her an hour.”
3nouncausesA person or thing that causes difficulty.~2%
“Money was never the problem; time was.”
Shares are an estimate: a language model read 18 sentences found in the wild and placed 18 of them on a sense — a count of our sample, not a measurement of English.
problem is a difficulty.
A problem is something thrown in your path. The Ancient Greek πρόβλημα meant anything thrown forward — a hindrance, an obstacle, even a headland jutting into the sea — from προβάλλω, 'to put something forward', which is προ-, 'in front of', plus βάλλω, 'to throw'. It reached English through Latin problēma and Middle French probleme.
Middle English
probleme
English, today
problem
Built from
From Middle English probleme. From Middle English probleme, from Middle French probleme, from Latin problēma, from Ancient Greek πρόβλημα (“anything thrown forward, hindrance, obstacle, anything projecting, a headland, promontory”), from προβάλλω (“to throw or lay something in front of someone, to put forward”), from προ- (“in front of”) + βάλλω (“to throw, to cast, to hurl”). a doublet of problema.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA