opponency

English

Etymology

From opponent +‎ -cy?

Noun

opponency (plural opponencies)

1. (UK) The act of opening an academic disputation; the proposition of objections to a tenet, as an exercise for a degree.
   • 1699, Mr. Chandler, A True Narrative of the Portsmouth Disputation:

     This is only a Trick to turn off the Opponency

   • 1935, “letter”, in Department of science, art and literature: Hearings before the Committee on Patents, page 112:

     The chairman of the committee will be very glad to give you the opportunity to express your views, whether of proponency or opponency.

References

• “opponency”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.