contestation

noun

con·​tes·​ta·​tion ˌkän-ˌte-ˈstā-shən 

: controversy, debate

Did you know?

The Latin phrase lītem contestārī can be translated as "to join issue in a legal suit," which in layperson's terms means to reach the point in a lawsuit when it's clear to the parties involved what the exact nature of the dispute is. Lītem contestārī is the probable ultimate source of both contestation and contest, the latter having first come to English as a verb meaning "to make the subject of dispute, contention, or battle." But while contest has gone on to have a life at home in another part of speech and in contexts ranging from sports to art, contestation continues to dwell mainly in serious speech and writing about adversarial dynamics between groups of people.

Synonyms

• controversy
• debate
• difference
• difficulty
• disagreement
• disputation
• dispute
• dissension
• dissention
• dissensus
• firestorm
• nonconcurrence

Examples of contestation in a Sentence

the statement is certainly open to contestation among reasonable people

Recent Examples on the Web

His book outlines the dominance of white masculinity in presidential politics since the birth of our nation, and the ways in contestations over masculinity are evident in its most prominent political contests. —Kelly Dittmar, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024

The main point of contestation will, naturally, be who gets to be an American and what rights U.S. citizenship confers. —Robert A. Pape, Foreign Affairs, 23 Sep. 2024

In large part, however, political contestation in recent decades has been the matter of parties mobilizing against one another—chiefly, the Awami League and its main rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. —Ali Riaz, Foreign Affairs, 6 Aug. 2024

Turkey’s neighborhood includes regions of contestation between the United States on one side and China, Iran, or Russia on the other. —Asli Aydintasbas, Foreign Affairs, 6 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French, "dispute, debate," earlier, "joinder of issue in law," probably borrowed from Old Occitan contestacion, borrowed from Latin contestātiōn-, contestātiō, from Latin (lītem) contestārī "to join issue in a legal suit" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at contest entry 1

First Known Use

1580, in the meaning defined above

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