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Webster 1913 Edition

Argument

Ar′gu-ment

,
Noun.
[F.
argument
, L.
argumentum
, fr.
arguere
to argue.]
1.
Proof; evidence.
[Obs.]
There is.. no more palpable and convincing
argument
of the existence of a Deity.
Ray.
Why, then, is it made a badge of wit and an
argument
of parts for a man to commence atheist, and to cast off all belief of providence, all awe and reverence for religion?
South.
2.
A reason or reasons offered in proof, to induce belief, or convince the mind; reasoning expressed in words;
as, an
argument about
,
concerning
, or
regarding
a proposition, for or
in favor of
it, or
against
it
.
3.
A process of reasoning, or a controversy made up of rational proofs; argumentation; discussion; disputation.
The
argument
is about things, but names.
Locke.
4.
The subject matter of a discourse, writing, or artistic representation; theme or topic; also, an abstract or summary, as of the contents of a book, chapter, poem.
You and love are still my
argument
.
Shakespeare
The abstract or
argument
of the piece.
Jeffrey.
[Shields] with boastful
argument
portrayed.
Milton.
5.
Matter for question; business in hand.
[Obs.]
Sheathed their swords for lack of
argument
.
Shakespeare
6.
(Astron.)
The quantity on which another quantity in a table depends;
as, the altitude is the
argument
of the refraction
.
7.
(Math.)
The independent variable upon whose value that of a function depends.
Brande & C.

Ar′gu-ment

(ăr′gū̍-ment)
,
Verb.
I.
[L.
argumentari
.]
To make an argument; to argue.
[Obs.]
Gower.

Webster 1828 Edition

Argument

'ARGUMENT

,
Noun.
[L. argumentum.]
1.
A reason offered for or against a proposition, opinion, or measure; a reason offered in proof, to induce belief, or convince the mind; followed by for or against.
2.
In logic, an inference drawn from premises, which are indisputable, or at least of probable truth.
3.
The subject of a discourse or writing.
4.
An abstract or summary of a book, or the heads of the subjects.
5.
A debate or discussion; a series of reasoning; as, an argument was had before the court, in which argument, all the reasons were urged.
6.
In astronomy, an arch by which we seek another unknown arch, proportional to the first.

Definition 2024

Argument

Argument

See also: argument

German

Noun

Argument n ‎(genitive Argumentes or Arguments, plural Argumente)

  1. proof, reason, point
  2. (function variable) argument

Declension

Synonyms

  • Funktionsargument

Derived terms

  • Funktionsargument

Related terms

Luxembourgish

Noun

Argument n ‎(plural Argumenter)

  1. argument

argument

argument

See also: Argument

English

Noun

argument ‎(plural arguments)

  1. A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.
    • Ray
      There is […] no more palpable and convincing argument of the existence of a Deity.
  2. A verbal dispute; a quarrel.
  3. A process of reasoning.
    • John Locke
      The argument is not about things, but names.
  4. (philosophy, logic) 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, chapter 1, in Logical Forms — An Introduction to Philosophical Logic, 2nd edition, Blackwell Publishing, ISBN 978-0-63121-679-7, §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.
  5. (mathematics) The independent variable of a function.
  6. (programming) A value, or reference to a value, passed to a function.
    • 2011 July 20, Edwin Mares, “Propositional Functions”, in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, retrieved 2012-07-15:
      In ‘The Critic of Arguments’ (1892), 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 (ibid. 420).
    Parameters are like labeled fillable blanks used to define a function whereas arguments are passed to a function when calling it, filling in those blanks.
  7. (programming) A parameter in a function definition; an actual parameter, as opposed to a formal parameter.
  8. (linguistics) Any of the phrases that bears a syntactic connection to the verb of a clause.
    • 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 7, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 372:
      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.
  9. (astronomy) The quantity on which another quantity in a table depends.
    The altitude is the argument of the refraction.
  10. The subject matter of a discourse, writing, or artistic representation; theme or topic; also, an abstract or summary, as of the contents of a book, chapter, poem.
    • 1598, William Shakespeare, "Sonnet 76":
      You and love are still my argument.
    • 1599, William Shakespeare, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act 3 Scene 2:
      Belike this show imports the argument of the play.
      This show is perhaps the subject of the play.
    • Jeffrey
      the abstract or argument of the piece
    • Milton
      [shields] with boastful argument portrayed
  11. Matter for question; business in hand.
    • Shakespeare
      Sheathed their swords for lack of argument.

Usage notes

  • (formal parameter in a function definition): Some authors regard use of "argument" to mean "formal parameter" to be imprecise, preferring that argument refers 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.
  • Adjectives often used with "argument": valid, invalid, correct, incorrect, right, wrong, strong, weak, convincing, unconvincing, conclusive, inconclusive, fallacious, simple, straightforward, inductive, deductive, logical, illogical, absurd, specious, flawed

Synonyms

  • (programming value): actual argument
  • See also Wikisaurus:argument
  • See also Wikisaurus:dispute

Meronyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Catalan

Noun

argument m ‎(plural arguments)

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

Czech

Pronunciation

Noun

argument m

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

Declension

Derived terms

Related terms

  • argumentace

See also

Danish

Noun

argument n (singular definite argumentet, plural indefinite argumenter)

  1. argument

Declension

Related terms

References

French

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Noun

argument m ‎(plural arguments)

  1. argument
    Quels que soient les arguments que vous avancez, je ne pourrai pas vous croire.‎
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin argumentum

Noun

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

  1. argument

Related terms

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin argumentum

Noun

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

  1. argument

Related terms

References

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

Swedish

Pronunciation

Noun

argument n

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

Declension

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

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /arɡuˈmɛnt/

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