noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin argumentum, from arguere
Date: 14th century
an outward sign ; indication ,
2. a reason given in proof or rebuttal, discourse intended to persuade,
3. the act or process of arguing ; argumentation , a coherent series of statements leading from a premise to a conclusion, quarrel , disagreement , an abstract or summary especially of a literary work , the subject matter especially of a literary work,
6. one of the independent variables upon whose value that of a function depends, a substantive (as the direct object of a transitive verb ) that is required by a predicate in grammar, amplitude 4