argument

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A discussion in which disagreement is expressed; a debate.
2. n. A quarrel; a dispute.
3. n. Archaic A reason or matter for dispute or contention: "sheath'd their swords for lack of argument” ( Shakespeare).
4. n. A course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating truth or falsehood: presented a careful argument for extraterrestrial life.
5. n. A fact or statement put forth as proof or evidence; a reason: The current low mortgage rates are an argument for buying a house now.
6. n. A set of statements in which one follows logically as a conclusion from the others.
7. n. A summary or short statement of the plot or subject of a literary work.
8. n. A topic; a subject: "You and love are still my argument” ( Shakespeare).
9. n. Logic The minor premise in a syllogism.
10. n. Mathematics An independent variable of a function.
11. n. Mathematics The angle of a complex number measured from the positive horizontal axis.
12. n. Computer Science A value used to evaluate a procedure or subroutine.
13. n. Linguistics In generative grammar, any of various positions occupied by a noun phrase in a sentence.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A statement or fact tending to produce belief concerning a matter in doubt; a premise or premises set forth in order to prove an assumption or conclusion.
2. n. [This, the familiar meaning of the word, probably originated in Roman law-courts. The usual definition given by Cicero and almost all authorities is ratio rei dubiœ faciens fidem, a reason causing belief of a doubtful matter. Boëtius in one place defines it as a medium proving a conclusion. The word medium here means a premise, or premises, according to all the commentators. (Petrus Hisp., tr. v. ad init.) But since medium usually means the middle term of a syllogism, some logicians have been led to give argument this signification.]
3. n. The middle term of a syllogism.
4. n. A reasoning; the process by which the connection between that which is or is supposed to be admitted and that which is doubted or supposed to need confirmation is traced or tested.
5. n. An address or composition made for the purpose of producing belief or conviction by reasoning or persuasion.
6. n. A series of argumentations for and against a proposition; a debate.
7. n. The subject-matter or groundwork of a discourse or writing; specifically, an abstract or summary of the chief points in a book or section of a book: as, the arguments prefixed to the several books of “Paradise Lost” were an afterthought.
8. n. Matter of contention, controversy, or conversation.
9. n. In mathematics: Of an imaginary quantity, the coefficient of the imaginary unit in its logarithm.
10. n. The angle or quantity on which a series of numbers in a numerical table depends and with which the table is entered. If, for example, a table of the sun's declination were formed corresponding to every degree, etc., of longitude, so that, the longitude being known, the declination might be found opposite to it, then the longitude would be called the argument of the table. Tables of double entry have two arguments. In the Ptolemaic astronomy, the argument, without qualification, is the angular distance on the epicycle of a planet from the true apogee of the epicycle; and the equation of the argument is the angular distance, as seen from the earth, of a planet from the center of the epicycle, the correction to the second inequality. See equation.
11. To argue; debate; bring forward reasons.
12. To make the subject of an argument or debate.
13. n. When one variable is dependent upon another, the dependent variable is called a function of the other variable, which is then called the argument of the function.

Wiktionary

1. n. A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason.
2. n. A verbal dispute; a quarrel.
3. n. A process of reasoning.
4. n. 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.
5. n. mathematics The independent variable of a function.
6. n. programming A value, or reference to a value, passed to a function.
7. n. programming A parameter in a function definition; an actual parameter, as opposed to a formal parameter.
8. n. linguistics Any of the phrases that bears a syntactic connection to the verb of a clause.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. obsolete Proof; evidence.
2. n. A reason or reasons offered in proof, to induce belief, or convince the mind; reasoning expressed in words.
3. n. A process of reasoning, or a controversy made up of rational proofs; argumentation; discussion; disputation.
4. n. 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.
5. n. obsolete Matter for question; business in hand.
6. n. (Astron.) The quantity on which another quantity in a table depends.
7. n. (Math.) The independent variable upon whose value that of a function depends.
8. v. obsolete To make an argument; to argue.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a discussion in which reasons are advanced for and against some proposition or proposal
2. n. (computer science) a reference or value that is passed to a function, procedure, subroutine, command, or program
3. n. a fact or assertion offered as evidence that something is true
4. n. a summary of the subject or plot of a literary work or play or movie
5. n. a variable in a logical or mathematical expression whose value determines the dependent variable; if f(x)=y, x is the independent variable
6. n. a contentious speech act; a dispute where there is strong disagreement
7. n. a course of reasoning aimed at demonstrating a truth or falsehood; the methodical process of logical reasoning