different between doubt vs debate

English

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English douten (“to be in doubt, feel unsure; to be afraid or worried; to hesitate; to be confused; to have respect or reverence”) [and other forms], from Old French douter, doter, duter (compare Middle French doubter), from Latin dubit?re (“to hesitate”), the present active infinitive of dubit? (“to be uncertain, doubt; to hesitate, waver in coming to an opinion; to consider, ponder”); the further etymology is uncertain, but one theory is that dubit? may be derived from dubius (“fluctuating, wavering; doubtful, dubious, uncertain”), from duhibius (“held as two”), from duo (“two”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dwóh? (“two”)) + habe? (“to have, hold”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *g?eh?b?- (“to grab, take”)). Although the Middle English form of the word was spelled without a b, this letter was later introduced through the influence of the Latin words dubit?re and dubit?. However, the English word continued to be pronounced without the b sound.

The noun is derived from Middle English dout, doute (“uncertain feeling; questionable point; hesitation; anxiety, fear; reverence, respect; something to be feared, danger;”) [and other forms],from Old French doute, dote, dute (“uncertain feeling, doubt”), from doter, douter, duter (“to doubt; to be afraid of, fear”) (compare Middle French doubter; modern French douter (“to doubt; to suspect”)); see further etymology above.

Displaced Old English tw?o (“doubt”) and tw?o?an (“to doubt”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: dout, IPA^(key): /da?t/
• (Canada) IPA^(key): /d??t/
• Rhymes: -a?t

Verb

doubt (third-person singular simple present doubts, present participle doubting, simple past and past participle doubted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To be undecided about; to lack confidence in; to disbelieve, to question.

   Synonyms: distrust, mistrust
2. (transitive, archaic) To harbour suspicion about; suspect.
3. (transitive, archaic) To anticipate with dread or fear; to apprehend.
4. (transitive, obsolete) To fill with fear; to affright.
5. (transitive, intransitive, obsolete) To dread, to fear.

Conjugation

Usage notes

• This is generally a stative verb that rarely takes the continuous inflection. See Category:English stative verbs
• In archaic usage, the phrase after "doubt" is what the doubter worries may be the case; in modern usage, that phrase is what the doubter worries may not be the case. Thus the archaic "I doubt he may be lying" is equivalent to the modern "I doubt he is telling the truth."
• In Scotland the archaic usage is still current but with a meaning boadened beyond worry: to doubt something is to consider it likely, so examples include not just "I doubt he's lying," but also "I doubt we'll arrive before dark."

Derived terms

Related terms

• dubiety
• dubious

Translations

Noun

doubt (countable and uncountable, plural doubts)

1. (uncountable, countable) Disbelief or uncertainty (about something); (countable) a particular instance of such disbelief or uncertainty.
2. (countable, obsolete or India) A point of uncertainty; a query.

Alternative forms

• dout (obsolete)

Derived terms

Translations

References

Further reading

• doubt on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From Old French debatre (“to fight, contend, debate, also literally to beat down”), from Romanic desbattere, from Latin dis- (“apart, in different directions”) + battuere (“to beat, to fence”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??be?t/
• Rhymes: -e?t

Noun

debate (countable and uncountable, plural debates)

1. An argument, or discussion, usually in an ordered or formal setting, often with more than two people, generally ending with a vote or other decision.

2. An informal and spirited but generally civil discussion of opposing views.
3. (uncountable) Discussion of opposing views.
4. (frequently in the French form débat) A type of literary composition, taking the form of a discussion or disputation, commonly found in the vernacular medieval poetry of many European countries, as well as in medieval Latin.
5. (obsolete) Strife, discord.

Translations

Verb

debate (third-person singular simple present debates, present participle debating, simple past and past participle debated)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To participate in a debate; to dispute, argue, especially in a public arena. [from 14th c.]
   • August 11, 1709, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym for Richard Steele or (in some later numbers of the journal) Joseph Addison), The Tatler No. 53

     He presents that great soul debating upon the subject of life and death with his intimate friends.

2. (obsolete, intransitive) To fight. [14th-17th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.viii:

     Well knew they both his person, sith of late / With him in bloudie armes they rashly did debate.

   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 15:

     ... wasteful Time debateth with Decay,

     To change your day of youth to sullied night

3. (obsolete, transitive) To engage in combat for; to strive for.
   • 1838, William H. Prescott, History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic

     Volunteers […] thronged to serve under his banner, and the cause of religion was debated with the same ardour in Spain as on the plains of Palestine.

4. (transitive) To consider (to oneself), to think over, to attempt to decide

Derived terms

• debater

Related terms

• debatable
• debation

Translations

Further reading

• debate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• debate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• beated, bed tea, bed-tea, betaed

Albanian

Noun

debate m pl

1. indefinite plural of debat

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /de.?ba.t?i/

Noun

debate m (plural debates)

1. debate

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:debate.

Verb

debate

1. third-person singular present indicative of debater
2. second-person singular imperative of debater

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:debate.

Spanish

Noun

debate m (plural debates)

1. debate, discussion

Related terms

• debatir

Verb

debate

1. Informal second-person singular (tú) affirmative imperative form of debatir.
2. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of debatir.
3. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of debatir.