disputation

noun

dis·​pu·​ta·​tion ˌdi-spyə-ˈtā-shən 

1

: the action of disputing : verbal controversy

continuous disputation between them

ideological disputations

2

: an academic exercise in oral defense of a thesis by formal logic

Synonyms

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

Examples of disputation in a Sentence

years of debate and disputation

a heated disputation over the true authorship of the poem popularly known as “The Night Before Christmas”

Recent Examples on the Web

Jake is a single father who has brought Kristen up in the severe Calvinist tradition, marked by Bible disputations of Talmudic intricacy and by a radical detachment from secular and popular culture. —Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 8 Sep. 2023

And yet there is one aspect of the book which was notable: a disputation of the Richard Wrangham's work in Demonic Males. —Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 22 Apr. 2013

Seven decades later, this culture of disputation emerged as a central theme in Timothy Garton Ash’s The Magic Lantern, his eyewitness report on the Eastern European revolutions of 1989. —Susie Linfield, The New York Review of Books, 11 May 2022

By taking steps to remember that politics always involves disputation, even among those who vote for the same candidates and affiliate with the same party, Americans may begin to rediscover the ability to respectfully disagree with opponents. —Robert B. Talisse, The Conversation, 3 Jan. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

disputation

noun

dis·​pu·​ta·​tion ˌdis-pyə-ˈtā-shən 

: the act of disputing : debate