argue

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈɑːɡ.juː/, US /ˈɑːrɡ.juː/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English arguen, borrowed from Old French arguer (“to maintain an opinion; accuse”),^[2][3][4] from Latin argūtāre “to prattle”, a frequentative of arguere “to make clear, prove, accuse”,^[3][5][6] or from arguere directly in a Medieval Latin sense “to argue”.^[2][4] De Vaan takes arguere as a verb from an adjective meaning “bright”, from Proto-Indo-European *arg- (“to shine; white”).^[2] It is related to argument and argent.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To give reasons in a debate: 1303 in the OED and Barnhart, in Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[7][3]

Semantic evolution

To raise objections or dispute is from 1393 in the OED, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[7][2] The earliest sense in Word Origins, to convict or prove guilty, is from about 1400,^[7][8] and “to accuse, call in question” from about 1425; both are obsolete.^[7] To indicate or be evidence of something, as in it argues a lack of care, is from 1494.^[7][8] In dialect argue was also a noun meaning “argument”.^[9]

Timeline

• 1303 – to give reasons.^[7][3]
• 1393 – to dispute.^[7]
• c. 1400 – to convict.^[7]
• 1494 – to indicate, be evidence of.^[7]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To speak angrily with someone because you disagree; to quarrel.
2. To give reasons for or against something.
3. To try to prove something by reasoning.
4. To persuade someone by giving reasons: argued him into it.
5. (formal) To show or indicate.

Word family

• arguer
• unargued
• counterargue
• overargue
• reargue
• argle-bargle
• arguable
• outargue

Related words

• argument
• argumentative
• argumentation
• argent

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)