Etymologically
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controversial

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 09:41. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˌkɒn.tɹəˈvɜː.ʃəl/, /ˌkɒn.tɹəˈvɜː.sjəl/ (UK); /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/, /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.sjəl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin contrōversiālis (“relating to controversy”),[2][3][4][5] from contrōversia (see controversy).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Subject to controversy, open to dispute: 1583 in the OED and MWU, the 1580s in Etymonline.[6][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Of or relating to controversy, polemical, and given to controversy, disputatious, are from 1659.[6][2] As a noun, a controversial matter, it is from 1658, now obsolete.[6] Etymonline also records a sense turning different ways from the 1640s, after Latin contrōversus.[2] The usual modern sense is causing public disagreement.[7][8]

Timeline

  • 1583 – open to dispute.[6]
  • 1659 – polemical; disputatious.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Causing much public disagreement or debate: a controversial decision.
  2. Fond of argument; disputatious.

Word family

  • controversialist
  • controversially
  • controversialism
  • precontroversial

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins