Meaning

noun an effort that is inconvenient

noun a factor causing trouble in achieving a positive result or tending to produce a negative result

noun a condition or state of affairs almost beyond one's ability to deal with and requiring great effort to bear or overcome

originFrom Middle English difficulte, from Middle French and Anglo-Norman difficulte and their etymon Latin difficultas, from difficul, older form of difficilis (“hard to do, difficult”), from dis- + facilis (“easy”); see difficile and difficult. Equivalent to dis- + facile + -ty. Also analysable as difficult + -y, though the adjective is historically a backformation from the noun.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0