tenson
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of tenson
1830–40; < French; Old French tençon < Provençal tensoun, tenso contest, dispute < Latin tēnsiōn- (stem of tēnsiō ); see tension
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The tenson or debate is in dialogue form, and when there are more than two disputants is called torneijamens.
From A Short History of French Literature by Saintsbury, George
The tenson may be carried on by two.
From Gryll Grange by Peacock, Thomas Love
I should much prefer a tenson of the twelfth century, when two or three masters of the Gai Saber discussed questions of love and chivalry.
From Gryll Grange by Peacock, Thomas Love
Well, Miss Gryll, I should like, some winter evening, to challenge you to a tenson, and your uncle should be umpire.
From Gryll Grange by Peacock, Thomas Love
Somewhere out in the gloom coyotes chattered and yelped, and from far across the dusky valley others answered—a doleful tenson.
From The River and I by Neihardt, John G.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
