Meaning

noun a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal

noun the formal presentation of a stated proposition and the opposition to it (usually followed by a vote)

verb argue with one another

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

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0