πρόβλημα

Ancient Greek

Etymology

From Proto-Hellenic *prógʷlāmə. Equivalent to προβάλλω (probállō, “I throw before”) +‎ -μᾰ (-ma).

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /pró.blɛː.ma/ → /ˈpro.βli.ma/ → /ˈpro.vli.ma/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /pró.blɛː.ma/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.ble̝.ma/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.βli.ma/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.vli.ma/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /ˈpro.vli.ma/

Noun

πρόβλημᾰ • (próblēma) n (genitive προβλήμᾰτος); third declension

1. anything thrown forward or projecting
   • 497 BCE – 405 BCE, Sophocles, Ajax 1219
   1. a hindrance, obstacle
      • 460 BCE – 370 BCE, Hippocrates, Collected Works 582.10
2. anything put before one as a defense, bulwark, barrier, screen, shield, wall
   • 460 BCE – 420 BCE, Herodotus, Histories 7.70
   1. (with genitive) a defense against a thing
      • 467 BCE, Aeschylus, Seven Against Thebes 676
3. anything put forward as an excuse or screen
   • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Demosthenes 1122.21
4. that which is proposed as a task, business
   • 458 BCE, Euripides, Electra 985
   1. (geometry) problem
      • 380 BCE, Plato, The Republic 530
   2. (Aristotelian logic) a question as to whether a statement is so or not
      • 384 BCE – 322 BCE, Aristotle, Topics 1.4,3
   3. a problem, difficulty
      • 200 BCE – 118 BCE, Polybius, The Histories 28.11,9

Declension

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ πρόβλημᾰ tò próblēma	τὼ προβλήμᾰτε tṑ problḗmate	τᾰ̀ προβλήμᾰτᾰ tà problḗmata
Genitive	τοῦ προβλήμᾰτος toû problḗmatos	τοῖν προβλημᾰ́τοιν toîn problēmátoin	τῶν προβλημᾰ́των tôn problēmátōn
Dative	τῷ προβλήμᾰτῐ tôi problḗmati	τοῖν προβλημᾰ́τοιν toîn problēmátoin	τοῖς προβλήμᾰσῐ / προβλήμᾰσῐν toîs problḗmasi(n)
Accusative	τὸ πρόβλημᾰ tò próblēma	τὼ προβλήμᾰτε tṑ problḗmate	τᾰ̀ προβλήμᾰτᾰ tà problḗmata
Vocative	πρόβλημᾰ próblēma	προβλήμᾰτε problḗmate	προβλήμᾰτᾰ problḗmata
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Third declension of τὸ πρόβλημᾰ; τοῦ προβλήμᾰτος (Attic)

Synonyms

• (shield): προβαλλός (proballós)

Descendants

• Greek: πρόβλημα (próvlima)
• → Latin: problēma (see there for further descendants)

References

• “πρόβλημα”, in Liddell & Scott (1940) A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “πρόβλημα”, in Liddell & Scott (1889) An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• πρόβλημα in Bailly, Anatole (1935) Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• πρόβλημα in Trapp, Erich, et al. (1994–2007) Lexikon zur byzantinischen Gräzität besonders des 9.-12. Jahrhunderts [the Lexicon of Byzantine Hellenism, Particularly the 9th–12th Centuries], Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • barrier idem, page 63.
  • blind idem, page 83.
  • bulwark idem, page 103.
  • cover idem, page 180.
  • defence idem, page 204.
  • pretence idem, page 638.
  • pretext idem, page 638.
  • problem idem, page 643.
  • protection idem, page 653.
  • safe-guard idem, page 730.
  • screen idem, page 742.
  • sham idem, page 761.
  • shelter idem, page 764.
• LSJ 8th edition

Greek

Etymology

Learnedly, from Ancient Greek πρόβλημᾰ (próblēma). For sense "difficulty", semantic loan from French problème or English problem.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈpɾo.vli.ma/
• Hyphenation: πρό‧βλη‧μα

Noun

πρόβλημα • (próvlima) n (plural προβλήματα)

1. problem, complicated question or subject
2. (mathematics) problem, sum
3. difficulty, trouble

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	πρόβλημα (próvlima)	προβλήματα (provlímata)
genitive	προβλήματος (provlímatos)	προβλημάτων (provlimáton)
accusative	πρόβλημα (próvlima)	προβλήματα (provlímata)
vocative	πρόβλημα (próvlima)	προβλήματα (provlímata)

References

1. πρόβλημα, in Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής [Dictionary of Standard Modern Greek], Triantafyllidis Foundation, 1998 at the Centre for the Greek language

Further reading

• πρόβλημα on the Greek Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^el