a type of literary composition popular especially in medieval times in which two or more usually allegorical characters discuss or debate some subject, most often a question of love, morality, or politics, and then refer the question to a judge. A tenson is a specific type of débat. A débat may also be an extended discussion, debate, or philosophical argument between two characters in a work of literature. George Bernard Shaw (Shaw, George Bernard) incorporated such discussions into several of his plays, including Major Barbara. The word is of French origin and means, literally, “a debate or altercation.”