controversial English · revision 6475

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1583|origins=la verto}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˌkɒn.tɹəˈvɜː.ʃəl/, /ˌkɒn.tɹəˈvɜː.sjəl/ ''(UK)''; /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.ʃəl/, /ˌkɑn.tɹəˈvɝ.sjəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|contrōversiālis|t=relating to controversy]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(SOED 2002)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|contrōversia]] (see [[controversy]]).^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Subject to controversy, open to dispute: 1583 in the OED and MWU, the 1580s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of or relating to controversy, polemical, and given to controversy, disputatious, are from 1659.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) As a noun, a controversial matter, it is from 1658, now obsolete.^(OED 1989) Etymonline also records a sense ''turning different ways'' from the 1640s, after Latin contrōversus.^(Etymonline) The usual modern sense is causing public disagreement.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1583 – open to dispute.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1659 – polemical; disputatious.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Causing much public disagreement or [[debate]]: ''a controversial decision''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Fond of argument; [[disputatious]].^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[controversialist]]

+ * [[controversially]]

+ * [[controversialism]]

+ * [[precontroversial]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[controversy]]

+ * [[controvert]]

+ * [[incontrovertible]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}