debate

English Online Dictionary. What means debate‎? What does debate mean?

English

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”) + battuere (“to beat, to fence”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈbeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /dɪˈbeɪt/, /di-/, /də-/
• Rhymes: -eɪt

Noun

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.

2. An informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.
3. (uncountable) Discussion of opposing views.
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

Translations

Verb

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.]
2. (obsolete, intransitive, reciprocal) To fight. [14th–17th c.]
3. (obsolete, transitive) To engage in combat for; to strive for.
4. (transitive) To consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• “debate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “debate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• beated, bed tea, bed-tea, betaed

Albanian

Noun

debate m pl

1. indefinite plural of debat

Portuguese

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

Deverbal from debater or borrowed from French débat.

Noun

debate m (plural debates)

1. debate

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

debate

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

Further reading

• “debate”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
• “debate”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /deˈbate/ [d̪eˈβ̞a.t̪e]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: de‧ba‧te

Etymology 1

Deverbal from debatir.

Noun

debate m (plural debates)

1. debate
2. discussion

   Synonym: discusión

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

debate

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

Further reading

• “debate”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish debate.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /deˈbate/ [d̪ɛˈbaː.t̪ɛ]
• Rhymes: -ate
• Syllabification: de‧ba‧te

Noun

debate (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜒᜊᜆᜒ)

1. debate; heated discussion

   Synonyms: pagtatalo, pagkakatwiranan, pangangatwiranan

Derived terms

See also