debate
noun
- parliamentary procedure
- argument with formal rules, is usually used to prepare a substantive vote
verb
- to discuss or argue about
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /dɪˈbeɪt/ / /di-/ / /də-/
noun
Etymology: From Middle English debat, borrowed from Old French debat, deverbal of debatre, see Etymology 1 for more.
- 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.”
- 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.”
- Discussion of opposing views.
“There has been considerable debate concerning exactly how to format these articles.”
“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.”
- 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.
- Strife, discord.
verb
Etymology: 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”) + battuō (“to beat, to fence”).
- To participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena.
“"Debate me, coward!" snarled the completely normal intellectual.”
“a wise council […] that did debate this business”
- To fight.
“Well knew they both his person, sith of late / With him in bloudie armes they rashly did debate.”
“[…] wasteful Time debateth with Decay, To change your day of youth to sullied night”
- To engage in combat for; to strive for.
“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.”
- To consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide
“He was debating where he'd spend his holiday.”