Meaning

noun a combat between two mounted knights tilting against each other with blunted lances

noun a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement

noun a slight but noticeable partiality

originFrom Middle English tilte, from Old English *tyltan, *tieltan (“to be unsteady”), related to the adjective tealt (“unsteady”), from Proto-West Germanic *talt, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *del-, *dul- (“to shake, hesitate”), see also Dutch touteren (“to tremble”), North Frisian talt, tolt (“unstable, shaky”). Cognate with Icelandic tölt (“an ambling pace”). The nominal sense of "a joust"…

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0