dilemma [E16th] Recorded from the early 16th century, dilemma was originally a technical term of rhetoric and logic. It referred particularly to a form of argument involving a choice between equally unfavourable alternatives. The alternatives of a dilemma were traditionally called ‘horns’, translating the term used in Latin, the international language of European scholars in the 16th century. The expression on the horns of a dilemma captures this notion of double difficulty. The word came into English from Greek dilēmma, from di- ‘twice’ and lēmma ‘premise, assertion’.