Wiktionary

debate

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English debaten, from Old French debatre (“to fight, contend, debate, also literally to beat down”), from Romanic desbattere, from Latin dis- (“apart, in different directions”) + battuere (“to beat, to fence”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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debate (countable and uncountable, plural debates)

  1. An argument, or discussion, usually in an ordered or formal setting, often with more than two people, generally ending with a vote or other decision.
    After a four-hour debate, the committee voted to table the motion.
  2. An informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.
    The debate over the age of the universe is thousands of years old.
    There was a bit of a debate over who should pay for the damaged fence.
    • 2013 July 26, Leo Hickman, “How algorithms rule the world”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 7, page 26:
      The use of algorithms in policing is one example of their increasing influence on our lives. And, as their ubiquity spreads, so too does the debate around whether we should allow ourselves to become so reliant on them – and who, if anyone, is policing their use.
  3. (uncountable) Discussion of opposing views.
    There has been considerable debate concerning exactly how to format these articles.
    • 2013 September-October, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist:
      Oxygen levels on Earth skyrocketed 2.4 billion years ago, when cyanobacteria evolved photosynthesis: […] . The evolutionary precursor of photosynthesis is still under debate, and a new study sheds light. The critical component of the photosynthetic system is the “water-oxidizing complex”, made up of manganese atoms and a calcium atom.
  4. (frequently in the French form débat) A type of literary composition, taking the form of a discussion or disputation, commonly found in the vernacular medieval poetry of many European countries, as well as in medieval Latin.
  5. (obsolete) Strife, discord.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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debate (third-person singular simple present debates, present participle debating, simple past and past participle debated)

  1. (transitive, intransitive, reciprocal) To participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena. [from 14th c.]
    "Debate me, coward!" snarled the completely normal intellectual.
  2. (obsolete, intransitive, reciprocal) To fight. [14th–17th c.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:
      Well knew they both his person, sith of late / With him in bloudie armes they rashly did debate.
    • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 15:
      […] wasteful Time debateth with Decay,
      To change your day of youth to sullied night
  3. (obsolete, transitive) To engage in combat for; to strive for.
    • 1838, William H[ickling] Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), Boston, Mass.: American Stationers’ Company; John B. Russell, →OCLC:
      Volunteers […] thronged to serve under his banner, and the cause of religion was debated with the same ardour in Spain as on the plains of Palestine.
  4. (transitive) To consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide
    He was debating where he'd spend his holiday.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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Albanian

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Noun

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debate m pl

  1. indefinite plural of debat

Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Deverbal from debater or borrowed from French débat.

Noun

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debate m (plural debates)

  1. debate
    • 2007, Leonardo Barreto Moreira Neves, O fim da culpa na separação judicial, Editora del Rey, →ISBN, page 148:
      A questão jurídica em debate foi com precisão resumida pelo Ministro Castro Filho: "É possível o juiz decretar a separação judicial do casal por culpa recíproca ou insuportabilidade da vida em comum, quando o pedido de separação é fundado na culpa exclusiva de um dos cônjuges, ausente a reconvenção".
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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debate

  1. inflection of debater:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Spanish

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Deverbal from debatir.

Noun

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debate m (plural debates)

  1. debate
  2. discussion
    Synonym: discusión

Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

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debate

  1. inflection of debatir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

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Tagalog

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish debate.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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debate (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜊᜆᜒ)

  1. debate; heated discussion
    Synonyms: pagtatalo, pagkakatwiranan, pangangatwiranan

Derived terms

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See also

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