from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Contentious \Con*ten"tious\, a. [L. contentiosus: cf. F.
contentieux.]
1. Fond of contention; given to angry debate; provoking
dispute or contention; quarrelsome.
[1913 Webster]
Despotic and contentious temper. --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
2. Relating to contention or strife; involving or
characterized by contention. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
More cheerful, though not less contentious, regions.
--Brougham.
[1913 Webster]
3. (Law) Contested; litigated; litigious; having power to
decide controversy.
[1913 Webster]
{Contentious jurisdiction} (Eng. Eccl. Law), jurisdiction
over matters in controversy between parties, in
contradistinction to {voluntary jurisdiction}, or that
exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.
Syn: Quarrelsome; pugnacious; dissentious; wrangling;
litigious; perverse; peevish. -- {Con*ten"tious*ly},
adv. -- {Con*ten"tious*ness}, n.
[1913 Webster]
from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
CONTENTIOUS JURISDICTION, eccl. law. In those cases where there is an action
or judicial process, and it consists in hearing and determining the matter
between party and party, it is said there is contentious jurisdiction, in
contradistinction to voluntary jurisdiction, which is exercised in matters
that require no judicial proceeding, as in taking probate of wills, granting
letters of administration, and the like. 3 Bl. Com. 66.