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dispute.

An argument or disagreement; a failure to agree.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/dɪˈspjuːt/Received-Pronunciation/ˈdɪ.spjuːt/Received-Pronunciation/dɪˈspjʉwt/British, Southern, Standard/ˈdɪ.spjʉwt/British, Southern, Standard
  1. An argument or disagreement; a failure to agree.

  2. An argument or disagreement; a failure to agree. A disagreement between parties in a contract, lawsuit, treaty, or other legal matter.

  3. Verbal controversy or disagreement; altercation; debate.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Latin putus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin putō Latin disputo Old French desputerbor. Middle English disputen English dispute From Middle English disputen, from Old French desputer (French disputer), from Latin disputāre (“to dispute, discuss, examine, compute, estimate”), from dis- (“apart”) + putāre (“to reckon, consider, think, originally make clean, clear up”), related to purus (“pure”). Compare compute, count, impute, repute, amputate, etc.

verb/dɪˈspjuːt/Received-Pronunciation/dɪˈspjʉwt/British, Southern, Standard/dɪˈspjut/Canada, General-American/də-/Canada, General-American
  1. To contend in argument; to argue against something maintained, upheld, or claimed, by another.

    intransitive
  2. To make a subject of disputation; to argue pro and con; to discuss.

    transitive
    Some residents disputed the proposal, saying it was based more on emotion than fact.
  3. To oppose by argument or assertion; to controvert; to express dissent or opposition to; to call into question; to deny the truth or validity of.

    to dispute assertions or arguments
  4. To strive or contend about; to contest.

  5. To struggle against; to resist.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁ ▲ Proto-Indo-European *trísinflu. Proto-Indo-European *d(w)is- Proto-Italic *dis- Latin dis- Latin putus Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂tiinflu. Proto-Italic *-ājō Proto-Italic *-āō Latin -ō Latin putō Latin disputo Old French desputerbor. Middle English disputen English dispute From Middle English disputen, from Old French desputer (French disputer), from Latin disputāre (“to dispute, discuss, examine, compute, estimate”), from dis- (“apart”) + putāre (“to reckon, consider, think, originally make clean, clear up”), related to purus (“pure”). Compare compute, count, impute, repute, amputate, etc.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.