digladiation
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American Heritage Dictionary
Century Dictionary (1)
- A combat with swords; hence, a contest of any kind; a quarrel; a dispute; a disputation.
[Rare.] Their fence playes, or digladiations of naked men. Puttenham, Arte of Eng. Poesie, p. 29. They [schoolmen] see such digladiation about subtilties and matters of no use. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, i. 46. Avoid all digladiations, facility of credit, or superstitious simplicity; seek the consonancy and concatenation of truth. B. Jonson, Discoveries.
GNU Webster's 1913 (1)
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So as it is not possible but this quality of knowledge must fall under popular contempt, the people being apt to contemn truths upon occasion of controversies and altercations, and to think they are all out of their way which never meet; and when they see such digladiation about subtleties, and matters of no use or moment, they easily fall upon that judgment of Dionysius of Syracusa, Verba ista sunt senum otiosorum.
— The Advancement of Learning
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View all »Etymologies (1)
American Heritage Dictionary
Century Dictionary (1)
- from Middle Latin digladiatio (n-) in digladiatio linguœ, a biting remark, from Latin digladiari, past participle digladiatus, contend: see digladiate.