argument

See also: Argument and argumént

English
WOTD – 18 March 2021

Pronunciation
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɑːɡjʊmənt/
  • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈɑɹɡjʊmənt/, /-ɡju-/, /-ɡjə-/
  • Audio (GA)(file)
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)
  • Hyphenation: ar‧gu‧ment

Etymology 1

From Middle English argument,[1] from Anglo-Norman and Old French arguement, from Latin argūmentum (“argument (for a position); evidence, proof; point, theme; thesis, topic; plot (in theatre)”), from arguere + -mentum (suffix indicating the instrument, medium, or result of something).[2] Arguere is the present active infinitive of arguō (“to argue, assert, declare; to make clear, prove, show; to accuse, charge with, reprove; to blame, censure; to denounce as false”), either ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ- (“silver, white; glittering”), or from Hittite [script needed] (arkuwā(i)-, “to make a plea, state one’s case”). The English word is analysable as argue +‎ -ment. Doublet of argumentum.

Displaced native Old English racu and ġeflit.

Noun

argument (countable and uncountable, plural arguments)

  1. (countable, also figuratively) A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:argument
    • 1691, John Ray, “Psalm 104. 24. How Manifold are thy Works O Lord? In Wisdom hast thou made them all.”, in The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC, pages 11–12:
      There is no greater, at leaſt no more palpable and convincing Argument of the Exiſtence of a Deity than the admirable Art and Wiſdom that diſcovers itſelf in the make and conſtitution, the order and diſpoſition, the ends and uſes of all the parts and members of this ſtately fabrick of Heaven and Earth.
    • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Stubb’s Supper”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, pages 446–447:
      Says Plowdon [i.e., Edmund Plowden], the whale so caught belongs to the King and Queen, “because of its superior excellence.” And by the soundest commentators this has ever been held a cogent argument in such matters.
    1. (logic, philosophy) A series of propositions organized so that the final proposition is a conclusion which is intended to follow logically from the preceding propositions, which function as premises.
      • 2001, Mark Sainsbury, “Validity”, in Logical Forms: An Introduction to Philosophical Logic, 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Blackwell Publishing, →ISBN, § 8, page 35:
        Consider the argument: / 15) I am hungry; therefore I am hungry. / Intuitively this should count as valid. But suppose we thought of the components of arguments as sentences, and suppose we imagine the context shifting between the utterance of the premise and the utterance of the conclusion. Suppose you are hungry and utter the premise, and I am not hungry and utter the conclusion. Then we would have a true premise and a false conclusion, so the argument would not be valid. Clearly we need to avoid such problems, and introducing the notion of a proposition, in the style of this section, is one way of doing so.
      • 2011 July 20, Edwin Mares, “Propositional Functions”, in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy‎, fall 2011 edition, archived from the original on 7 August 2020:
        In ‘The Critic of Arguments’ (1892), [Charles Sanders] Peirce adopts a notion that is even closer to that of a propositional function. There he develops the concept of the ‘rhema’. He says the rhema is like a relative term, but it is not a term. It contains a copula, that is, when joined to the correct number of arguments it produces an assertion. For example, ‘__ is bought by __ from __ for __’ is a four-place rhema. Applying it to four objects a, b, c, and d produces the assertion that a is bought by b from c for d […].
  2. (countable) A process of reasoning; argumentation.
    • 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress as Originally Published by John Bunyan: Being a Fac-simile Reproduction of the First Edition, London: Elliot Stock […], 1875, →OCLC, page 84:
      Indeed, I cannot commend my life; for I am conſcious to my ſelf of many failings: therein, I know alſo that a man by his converſation, may ſoon overthrow what by argument or perſwaſion he doth labour to faſten upon others for their good: […]
    • 1689 (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], “Of the Remedies of the foregoing Imperfections and Abuses”, in An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding. […], London: […] Eliz[abeth] Holt, for Thomas Basset, […], →OCLC, book III, § 6, page 252:
      For if the Idea be not agreed on, betwixt the Speaker and Hearer, for which the Words ſtand, the Argument is not about Things, but Names.
    • 1818, [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume II, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, →OCLC, page 146:
      I shuddered when I thought of the possible consequences of my consent; but I felt that there was some justice in his argument.
    • 2016 October 2, Nick Cohen, “Liberal Guilt Won’t Fight Nationalism”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 195, numbers 17 (30 September – 6 October 2016), London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 21, column 3:
      Meanwhile, the authoritarianism, which has turned left-liberalism into a movement for sneaks and prudes, was always going to play into the hands of the right. Free citizens have stopped listening to those who respond to the challenge of argument by screaming for the police to arrest the politically incorrect or for universities to ban speakers who depart from leftish orthodoxy.
  3. (countable) An abstract or summary of the content of a literary work such as a book, a poem or a major section such as a chapter, included in the work before the content itself; (figuratively) the contents themselves.
  4. (countable) A verbal dispute; a quarrel.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:dispute
    The neighbours got into an argument about the branches of the trees that extended over the fence.
  5. (by extension, humorous or euphemistic) Any dispute, altercation, or collision.
    Steve got in a physical argument with his neighbor and came away with a black eye.
    While biking home, he got in an argument with the pavement.
    • 2022 January 26, John Crosse, “When the tide turned to a safer railway...”, in RAIL, number 949, page 52, photo caption:
      D5131 has received extensive cab damage, having been in an argument with Class 37 D6855 at Inverness in August 1971 - one of two accidents that occurred there on August 20.
  6. (countable, linguistics) Any of the phrases that bears a syntactic connection to the verb of a clause.
    • 1988, Andrew Radford, “The Lexicon”, in Transformational Grammar: A First Course (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, published 1999, →ISBN, section 7.10 (Thematic Relations), pages 372–373:
      In numerous works over the past two decades, beginning with the pioneering work of Gruber (1965), Fillmore (1968a), and Jackendoff (1972), it has been argued that each Argument (i.e. Subject or Complement) of a Predicate bears a particular thematic role (alias theta-role, or θ-role to its Predicate), and that the set of thematic functions which Arguments can fulfil are drawn from a highly restricted, finite, universal set.
  7. (countable, mathematics)
    1. The independent variable of a function.
    2. The phase of a complex number.
    3. (also astronomy) A quantity on which the calculation of another quantity depends.
      The altitude is the argument of the refraction.
  8. (countable, programming)
    1. A value, or a reference to a value, passed to a function.
      Synonyms: actual argument, passed parameter
      Parameters are like labelled fillable blanks used to define a function whereas arguments are passed to a function when calling it, filling in those blanks.
    2. A parameter at a function call; an actual parameter, as opposed to a formal parameter.
  9. (countable, obsolete)
    1. A matter in question; a business in hand.
    2. The subject matter of an artistic representation, discourse, or writing; a theme or topic.
  10. (uncountable, archaic) Evidence, proof; (countable) an item of such evidence or proof.
Usage notes

see Thesaurus:false, Thesaurus:stupid, Thesaurus:deceptive

  • (parameter at a function call): some authors regard the use of argument to mean “formal parameter” to be imprecise, preferring that argument be used to refer only to the value that is used to instantiate the parameter at runtime, while parameter refers only to the name in the function definition that will be instantiated.
Alternative forms
Meronyms
Derived terms
Collocations
Adjectives often used with "argument"

good, bad, valid, invalid, correct, incorrect, right, wrong, sound, unsound, strong, weak, convincing, unconvincing, plausible, implausible, conclusive, inconclusive, fallacious, erroneous, simple, complicated, straightforward, subtle, tricky, inductive, deductive, logical, illogical, absurd, specious, flawed, honest, dishonest, sincere, deceptive, stupid, silly, spurious

Translations

Etymology 2

The obsolete senses are derived from Middle English argumenten (“to argue, discuss; to consider, reflect”),[3] from Old French argumenter (“to argue”), from Latin argūmentārī, the present active infinitive of argūmentor (“to adduce arguments or proof, prove, reason; to adduce (something) as argument or proof; to conclude”), from argūmentum (“argument (for a position); evidence, proof; point, theme; thesis, topic; plot (in theatre)”) (see further at etymology 1)[4] + -or (the first-person singular present passive indicative of -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)).

The current sense is derived from the noun.

Verb

argument (third-person singular simple present arguments, present participle argumenting, simple past and past participle argumented)

  1. (intransitive, obsolete, now nonstandard, non-native speakers' English) To put forward as an argument; to argue.
    • 1607, Edward Topsell, “Of the Elephant”, in The Historie of Fovre-footed Beastes. […], London: […] William Iaggard, →OCLC, page 194:
      [I]t is moſt certaine, that after Herodotus and other auncient writers, it is ſafer to call theſe [elephants' tusks] teeth, then hornes; and I will breefly ſet downe the reaſons of Philoſtratus, that will haue them to be teeth, and afterward of Grapaldus [i.e., Francesco Mario Grapaldi], Aelianus, and Pauſanias, that would make them horns, and ſo leaue the reader to conſider whether opinion he thinketh moſt agreeable to truth. […] Thus they argument for the horns of Elephants.
    • 1637, [George Gillespie], “That the Ceremonies are Unlawfull, because They are Monuments of By-past Idolatry, […]”, in A Dispvte against the English-Popish Ceremonies Obtrvded vpon the Chvrch of Scotland. […], [Leiden]: [ […] W. Christiaens], →OCLC, 3rd part (Against the Lavvfulnesse of the Ceremonies), section 15, page 29:
      Both kneeling, and all the reſt of the Popiſh Ceremonies, may well be compared to the Brazen Serpent. […] I. Rainoldes [i.e., John Rainolds] argumenteth, from Hezekiah his breaking downe of the Brazen Serpent, to the plucking downe of the ſigne of the Croſſe.
    • [1762], attributed to Thomas Augustine Arne, “Preface”, in Artaxerxes. An English Opera. […], London: […] J[acob] and R[ichard] Tonson […], →OCLC:
      […] And Lord Lanſdown, in his Preface to the Britiſh Enchanters, exclaims againſt that Species of Dramatic Dialogue, which (inſtead of being free, natural, and eaſy, as Converſation ſhould be) is preciſe, or formal, argumenting pro and con, like Diſputants in a School; […]
    • a. 1848, Thomas Chalmers, “Introductory Essay to a Treatise on the Faith and Influence of the Gospel. By the Rev. Archibald Hall.”, in Miscellanies; Embracing Reviews, Essays, and Addresses, New York, N.Y.: Robert Carter & Brothers, […], published 1851, →OCLC, page 416:
      But, can this be alleged of him who has oft been heard to speak of faith and of works together—and who, after argumenting the utter worthlessness of the latter, has confined most rigidly to the former all of power and of efficacy that there is in the business of salvation?
    • 1869, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XIX, in The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims’ Progress; […], Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company. […], →OCLC, page 190:
      Here, in Milan, is an ancient tumble-down ruin of a church, is the mournful wreck of the most celebrated painting in the world—"The Last Supper," by Leonardo da Vinci. […] And the first thing that occurred was the infliction on us of a placard fairly reeking with wretched English. […] And then Peter is described as "argumenting in a threatening and angrily condition at Judas Iscariot."
    • 1983, Gregory J. Scott, Marketing Bhutan’s Potatoes: Present Patterns and Future Prospects, Lima, Peru: International Potato Center, →OCLC, page 77:
      Hence, domestic potato marketing cannot be argumented in such fashion.
    • 1993, Andreas Gourmelon, “A Method to Analyse the Strain of Memory of Elderly Persons Working with Information Technologies”, in E. Ballabio, I. Placencia-Porrero, R. Puig de la Bellacasa, editors, Rehabilitation Technology: Strategies for the European Union: […] (Technology and Informatics; 9), Amsterdam, Oxford, Oxfordshire: IOS Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 211:
      It may be argumented that many elderly persons stay at home and do not even try to use a ticket machine.
    • 1999, Bernd A. Neubauer, Ulrich Stephani, Hermann Doose, “The Genetics of Rolandic Epilepsy and Related Conditions: Multifactorial Inheritance with a Major Gene Effect”, in S[amuel] F[rank] Berkovic, P. Genton, E. Hirsch, F. Picard, editors, Genetics of Focal Epilepsies: Clinical Aspects and Molecular Biology (Current Problems in Epilepsy; 13), London: John Libbey & Company, →ISBN, →ISSN, part II (The Idiopathic Age-related Focal Epilepsies), page 57:
      This was first enunciated by Loiseau et al. (1967) when he argumented that RE 'does not exist' in clinical practice, referring to its pure, typical form.
    • 2012, Harry Fokkens, “Background to Dutch Beakers: A Critical Review of the Dutch Model”, in Harry Fokkens, Franco Nicolis, editors, Background to Beakers: Inquiries into Regional Cultural Backgrounds of the Bell Beaker Complex, Leiden: Sidestone Press, →ISBN, abstract, page 9:
      The settlement data do in fact not support the Dutch Model, and it is argumented that the ¹⁴C-evidence for the model is absent as well.
    • 2013, Daniel Gurski, “Conclusion”, in Customer Experiences Affect Customer Loyalty: An Empirical Investigation of the Starbucks Experience Using Structural Equation Modeling, Hamburg: Anchor Compact, Anchor Academic Publishing, →ISBN, page 45:
      Although it is argumented that organizational learning is based on individual learning (Song et al., 2008), the insights from this study are not generalizable for business-to-business markets.
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To adduce evidence, to provide proof.
    • 1558, Quintine Kennedy [i.e., Quintin Kennedy], chapter 5, in Ane Compendius Tractiue Conforme to the Scripturis of Almychtie God, Ressoun, and Authoritie, […], [Edinburgh]: [J. Scot], →OCLC, signature C.ii.:
      Albeit that it apperteneth to the apoſtolis, be the puiſtoun of God to tak ordour in all materis off debait cõcernyng ye faith, & ſpecialie to iterprete ye ſcripturis, as yat quhilkis had yͤ ſpreit of god, & wer yͤ trew kirk: It argumẽtis [argumentis] not yat vtheris, quha hes ꝯuenit [conuenit] ſenſyne in generale ꝯſales [consales] had the ſpreit of GOD, or wer the trew kirk: […]
Conjugation
Conjugation of argument
infinitive (to) argument
present tense past tense
1st-person singular argument argumented
2nd-person singular argument, argumentest† argumented, argumentedst†
3rd-person singular arguments, argumenteth† argumented
plural argument
subjunctive argument argumented
imperative argument —
participles argumenting argumented

†Archaic or obsolete.

References
  1. “argūment, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. “argument, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “argument, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. “argūmenten, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. “† argument, v.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021.

Further reading

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin argūmentum.

Pronunciation

Noun

argument m (plural arguments)

  1. argument (reason)
  2. (computing) argument
  3. plot, storyline
  4. (mathematics) argument
  5. (grammar) argument

Further reading

Czech

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): [ˈarɡumɛnt]
  • audio (Czech Republic)(file)

Noun

argument m inan

  1. argument (fact or statement used to support a proposition)

Declension
Declension of argument (hard masculine inanimate)
singular plural
nominative argument argumenty
genitive argumentu argumentů
dative argumentu argumentům
accusative argument argumenty
vocative argumente argumenty
locative argumentu, argumentě argumentech
instrumental argumentem argumenty

Derived terms

See also

Further reading
  • argument in Příruční slovník jazyka českého, 1935–1957
  • argument in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého, 1960–1971, 1989
  • argument in Internetová jazyková příručka

Danish

Noun

argument n (singular definite argumentet, plural indefinite argumenter)

  1. argument

Declension
Declension of argument
neuter
gender		 Singular Plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative argument argumentet argumenter argumenterne
genitive arguments argumentets argumenters argumenternes

References

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch argument, from Old French argument, from Latin argūmentum.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˌɑr.ɣyˈmɛnt/
  • Audio(file)
  • Hyphenation: ar‧gu‧ment
  • Rhymes: -ɛnt

Noun

argument n (plural argumenten, diminutive argumentje n)

  1. An argument (fact or statement used to support a proposition).
    1. (logic, philosophy) A series of propositions, intended so that the conclusion follows logically from the premises.
  2. (mathematics) An argument (independent variable of a function).
  3. (programming) An argument (value or reference passed to a function).
  4. (linguistics) An argument (any of the phrases that bears a syntactic connection to the verb of a clause).
  5. (obsolete) A decision.
  6. (obsolete) A subject matter, theme or topic.
  7. (obsolete) A quarrel, a dispute, an argument.

Derived terms

Descendants
  • Afrikaans: argument

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin argūmentum, from arguō (“prove, argue”).

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /aʁ.ɡy.mɑ̃/
  • audio (France)(file)

Noun

argument m (plural arguments)

  1. argument
    Quels que soient les arguments que vous avancez, je ne pourrai pas vous croire.
    No matter what arguments you propose, I won't be able to believe you.
  2. (grammar) argument of a verb, phrase syntactically connected to a verb (object and subject)

Derived terms

See also

Further reading

Maltese

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian argomento.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ar.ɡuˈmɛnt/
  • Audio (Gozo)(file)

Noun

argument m (plural argumenti)

  1. argument

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin argumentum.

Noun

argument n (definite singular argumentet, indefinite plural argument or argumenter, definite plural argumenta or argumentene)

  1. argument

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin argumentum.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ɑrɡʉˈmɛnt/

Noun

argument n (definite singular argumentet, indefinite plural argument, definite plural argumenta)

  1. argument

References

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin argūmentum.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /arˈɡu.mɛnt/
  • Audio(file)
  • Rhymes: -umɛnt
  • Syllabification: ar‧gu‧ment

Noun

argument m inan (diminutive argumencik)

  1. (literary) point, argument (fact or statement used to support a proposition)
  2. (philosophy, logic, mathematics, programming) argument

Declension
Declension of argument
singular plural
nominative argument argumenty
genitive argumentu argumentów
dative argumentowi argumentom
accusative argument argumenty
instrumental argumentem argumentami
locative argumencie argumentach
vocative argumencie argumenty

Derived terms
adjective
noun
verbs

Further reading
  • argument in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • argument in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French argument, from Latin argumentum.

Noun

argument n (plural argumente)

  1. argument

Declension
Declension of argument
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) argument argumentul (niște) argumente argumentele
genitive/dative (unui) argument argumentului (unor) argumente argumentelor
vocative argumentule argumentelor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /arɡǔment/
  • Hyphenation: ar‧gu‧ment

Noun

argùment m (Cyrillic spelling аргу̀мент)

  1. argument (fact or statement used to support a proposition)
  2. (philosophy, logic, mathematics, programming) argument

Declension
Declension of argument
singular plural
nominative argument argumenti
genitive argumenta argumenata
dative argumentu argumentima
accusative argument argumente
vocative argumente argumenti
locative argumentu argumentima
instrumental argumentom argumentima

Swedish

Pronunciation
  • audio(file)

Noun

argument n

  1. an argument supporting a stance
  2. (mathematics) an argument; an independent variable passed to a function
  3. (programming) an argument; a variable passed to a function

Declension
Declension of argument 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative argument argumentet argument argumenten
Genitive arguments argumentets arguments argumentens
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