controversial
/ˌkɒntɹəˈvɜːʃəl/kahn-truh-VUR-shuhl
/ˌkɑntɹəˈvɝʃəl/kahn-truh-VUR-shuhl
Meaningrelating to turning against
Common meaning: causing strong public disagreement
- controversiturned againstSkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 110 · scan
- aladjective ending: relating to
Journey through time
- Latincontroversus‘turned against’source
- Latincontroversia‘a quarrel’source
- Englishcontroversy‘a long public disagreement’
- Englishformed in English from controversycontroversial‘causing strong public disagreement’ · today
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from controversy + -al.
Dictionary: Skeat (1898), CONTROVERSY, p.132 · scan
Source words
- controversus Latin · source word “turned against”
Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app