argument

noun arguments · arguement

1. also, countable, figuratively A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason. 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 Ear
2. also, countable, figuratively, uncountable 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. 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
3. countable A process of reasoning; argumentation. 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: […]
4. 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. If I would broach the veſſels of my loue, / And try the argument of hearts, by borrowing, / Men, and mens fortunes, could I frankely vſe / As I can bid thee ſpeake.
5. countable A verbal dispute; a quarrel. The neighbours got into an argument about the branches of the trees that extended over the fence.

   Similar: argument, argy-bargy, altercation, contention, barney, bawl out, blue, bobbery, brawl, clash, conflict, controversy

6. broadly, countable, euphemistic, humorous, uncountable Any dispute, altercation, or collision. Steve got in a physical argument with his neighbor and came away with a black eye.
7. countable Any of the phrases that bear a syntactic connection to the verb of a clause. 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)
8. countable, uncountable The independent variable of a function.
9. countable, uncountable The phase of a complex number.
10. also, countable, uncountable A quantity on which the calculation of another quantity depends. The altitude is the argument of the refraction.
11. countable, uncountable A value, or a reference to a value, passed to a function. 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.

    Similar: actual argument, passed parameter

12. countable, uncountable A parameter at a function call; an actual parameter, as opposed to a formal parameter.
13. countable, obsolete, uncountable A matter in question; a business in hand. As neere as I could ſift him on that argument, On ſome apparent danger ſeene in him, Aimde at your highnes, no inueterate malice.
14. countable, obsolete, uncountable The subject matter of an artistic representation, discourse, or writing; a theme or topic. [I]n vttering the ſtuffe ye receiued of the one, in declaring the order ye tooke with the other, ye ſhall neuer lacke, neither matter, nor maner, what to write, nor how to write in this kinde of Argument.
15. archaic, uncountable Evidence, proof; (countable) an item of such evidence or proof. [F]or louing me, by my troth it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her follie, for I will be horribly in loue with her, […]

Similar: argument, assertion, basis, claim, contention, proof · Opposite: recantation

verb arguments · argumenting · argumented · argument

1. intransitive, nonstandard, obsolete To put forward as an argument; to argue. [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, a
2. intransitive, obsolete To adduce evidence, to provide proof. 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] ſenſ