Brewer's: Dispute

(2 syl.) means, literally, to “lop down” (Latin, dis-puto ); debate means to “knock down” (French, débattre); discuss means to “shake down” (Latin, dis-quatio); object' is to “cast against” (Latin, ob-jacio); contend is to “pull against” (Latin, contendo); quarrel is to throw darts at each other (Welsh, cwarel, a dart); and wrangle is to strain by twisting (Swedish, vränga; Anglo-Saxon, wringan).

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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