quandary

The story

1. Old Norse · derived fromvandræði“difficulty, trouble”
2. Middle English · derived fromwandreth
3. English todayquandary

16th century. Origin unknown; perhaps a dialectal corruption (simulating a word of Latin origin with suffix -ary) of wandreth (“evil, plight, peril, adversity, difficulty”), from Middle English wandreth, from Old Norse vandræði (“difficulty, trouble”), from vándr (“difficult, requiring pains and care”).