Issue Meaning

/ˈɪʃuː/
A2

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounThe action or an instance of flowing or coming out, an outflow

nounThe action or an instance of flowing or coming out, an outflow, A movement of soldiers towards an enemy, a sortie.

We should face up to this issue.
Opinions are divided on the issue of taxes.
This issue was of such importance that we could not afford to ignore it.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The central ____ discussed at the meeting was the budget deficit.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The main ____ discussed at the meeting was the lack of funding for the new community project.

From Middle English issue, from Old French issue (“an exit, a way out”), feminine past participle of issir (“to exit”), from Latin exeō (“go out, exit”), from prefix ex- (“out”) + eō (“go”). The legal meaning originated from the concept of "the end or result of pleadings in a suit (by presenting the point to be determined by trial)," leading to the sense of "the controversy over facts in a trial" (early 14th century, Anglo-French). This later extended to mean "a point of contention between two parties" (early 15th century) and more generally, "an important point to be decided" (1836). Consequently, the verbal phrase take issue with emerged in 1797 (preceded by join issue in the 1690s), meaning "to adopt an affirmative or negative stance in a dispute with another." The expression to have issues, meaning "to have unresolved conflicts," dates to 1990.

"And behold, a woman which was diseased with an issue of blood twelue yeeres, came behinde him [Jesus], and touched the hemme of his garment." — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Matthew 9:20:
"For she doted upon their paramours, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses." — 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 23:20:
"His Majesty, His issue, if any, and the descendants of that issue, shall not after His Majesty’s abdication have any right, title or interest in or to the succession to the Throne, and section one of the Act of Settlement shall be construed accordingly." — 1936, Parliament of the United Kingdom, “Section 1(2)”, in His Majesty’s Declaration of Abdication Act 1936ᵂⁱᵏⁱˢᵒᵘʳᶜᵉ, page 2:
"How if there were no centre at all, but just one alley after another, and the whole world a labyrinth without end or issue?" — 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:
"Issues and fontanels were supposed remedies for joint diseases, pulmonary tuberculosis, and other chronic conditions." — 2005, James Harold Kirkup, chapter XXV, in The Evolution of Surgical Instruments, page 403:

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CEFR Practice Quiz
The central ____ discussed at the meeting was the budget deficit.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The main ____ discussed at the meeting was the lack of funding for the new community project.

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