disputation.

Formal or sustained argument or debate about a subject.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• scholarly disputation
• public disputation

On the page

Scholarly disputation clarified the assumptions on which the competing positions depended.

The public disputation continued after the central factual issue had been settled.

Usage notes

Primary category: analysis / argumentation / evidence. Forms: Singular disputation; plural disputations. Also uncountable for debate. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: counterevidence assessment, argument critique, qualified assertion, formal disagreement. Disciplines: argumentation, research interpretation, social analysis. Commonness: uncommon.