disputation

English

Etymology

English dispute +‎ -ation, from Old French disputation, from Latin disputatio.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪsˌpjuːˈteɪʃən/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

disputation (countable and uncountable, plural disputations)

1. The act of disputing; a dispute or argument.
   • 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, page 13:

     And like the battles fought over baptism by sprinkling as opposed to total immersion, these modern-day disputations can be tedious.

2. A rhetorical exercise in which parties reason in opposition to each other over a belief or proposition.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:dispute

Related terms

• disputable
• disputant
• disputatious
• dispute