Lewis & Short

contrōversĭa, ae (dat. plur. CONTROVORSEIS, C. I. L. 1, 199, 1), f. [controversus], lit., a turning against.

  1. * I. Lit.: si controversia aquae insulam subverterit, the turning of the water against it, Dig. 39, 2, 24, § 5.
  2. II. Trop., controversy, contention, quarrel, question, dispute, debate (so in good prose, and very freq., esp. in jurid. and rhet. lang.; in Quint. more than sixty times): nulla controversia mihi tecum erit, Plaut. Aul. 2, 2, 83: apage! controversia’st, id. Rud. 3, 5, 46: quicquid est quod in controversiā aut in contentione versetur … a propriis personis et temporibus semper avocet controversiam (orator), Cic. Or. 14, 45 (cited ap. Quint. 3, 5, 15); cf. id. de Or. 3, 30, 120: controversias tollere, id. Phil. 9, 5, 11; cf. distrahere, id. Caecin. 2, 6: rem in controversiam vocare, id. de Or. 2, 72, 291: rem adducere in controversiam, id. ib. 1, 40, 183: rem deducere in controversiam, Caes. B. G. 7, 63: rem ducere in controversiam, Quint. 3, 8, 52: venire in controversiam, Cic. de Or. 1, 31, 139; Quint. 3, 6, 44 al.: qui tum agrum, qui in controversiā erat, obtinebat, Liv. 40, 34, 14: esse in controversiā, Auct. Her. 1, 10, 17; 2, 28, 45: controversiae scholasticae, Quint. 4, 2, 92; as the title of a rhet. writing of Seneca: Controversiae: existere controversias ex scripti interpretatione, Cic. de Or. 1, 31, 140: controversiam alere, Caes. B. G. 7, 32 fin.: constituere, Cic. de Or. 1, 31, 143: dicere, Quint. 3, 8, 51: exponere, id. 10, 7, 21 al.: dirimere, Cic. Off. 3, 33, 119: componere, Caes. B. C. 1, 9 fin.: sedare, Cic. Balb. 19, 43: ut controversiarum ac dissensionum obliviscerentur, Caes. B. G. 7, 34: cujus hereditatis controversia fuerat nulla, Cic. Verr. 2, 2, 18, § 46: magnae rei familiaris, id. Rosc. Am. 31, 87: movere controversiam nominis, Tac. Or. 25: cum de loco et tempore ejus rei controversia inferretur, Caes. B. C. 1, 86: ea controversia, quam habet de fundo cum quodam Colophonio, Cic. Fam. 13, 69, 2; id. Verr. 2, 3, 84, § 194; id. Brut. 18, 72: de jure, Quint. 7, 7, 9: de substantiā aut de qualitate, id. 3, 6, 39: de verbo, Cels. 3, 3, 25: controversia est inter scriptores de numero annorum, Cic. Brut. 18, 72: controversia orta inter eos de principatu, Caes. B. C. 3, 112; cf. id. B. G. 5, 44; 7, 33: controversia non erat, quin verum dicerent, Cic. Caecin. 11, 31: nihil controversiae fuit, quin consules crearentur, etc., Liv. 4, 17, 7: sine controversiā ab dis solus diligere, beyond dispute, without doubt, indisputably, Ter. Phorm. 5, 6, 14; Cic. Off. 3, 2, 7: sine ullā controversiā, id. Caecin. 7, 19.