disputation

[dis-pyoo-tey-shuh n]

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noun

the act of disputing or debating; verbal controversy; discussion or debate.

an academic exercise consisting of the arguing of a thesis between its maintainer and its opponents.

Origin of disputation

1350–1400; Middle English disputacioun < Latin disputātiōn- (stem of disputātiō), equivalent to disputāt(us) (past participle of disputāre; disput- (see dispute) + -ātus -ate¹) + -iōn- -ion; replacing desputisoun < Old French

Related formspre·dis·pu·ta·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for disputation

argumentation, dissension, dialectic, debate, dispute, forensic

Examples from the Web for disputation

Historical Examples of disputation

In a word, is not the art of disputation a power of disputing about all things?
Sophist
Plato
But heresies have polluted every church, and schisms are the fruit of disputation.
The Pioneers
James Fenimore Cooper
It is reported that something in the nature of a disputation was now held.
The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus Vasa
Paul Barron Watson
Nothing had been accomplished, therefore, when the disputation ceased.
The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus Vasa
Paul Barron Watson
But to leave this technical, though not wholly unreal, disputation.
Personality in Literature
Rolfe Arnold Scott-James

British Dictionary definitions for disputation

disputation

noun

the act or an instance of arguing

a formal academic debate on a thesis

an obsolete word for conversation

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for disputation

late 14c., from Old French desputasion and directly from Latin disputationem (nominative disputatio), noun of action from past participle stem of disputare (see dispute).