Etymologically
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argomento

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Pronunciation

  • /ar.ɡoˈmen.to/[1]

Forms

argomento m (plural argomenti)[1] Old Italian also had argumento, and the dialects Sicilian argumentu and Neapolitan argomiento.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin argūmentum (“proof, reason; subject”), with its derivatives argūmentor (“to argue”) and argūmentātiō.[4][5][6][1] The Latin noun is formed from arguō (“to show, prove”) with the suffix -mentum.[4][1][7]

De Vaan takes arguō as probably a verb meaning “to make bright, enlighten”, from an adjective Proto-Italic *argu- (“bright”) that is also continued in argūtus (“clever; clear-sounding”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂erǵ-u- (“white”), the root of Ancient Greek ἄργυρος (árguros, “silver”).[8][1] Others compare instead a Hittite verb meaning “to make a plea”.[1][8]

According to the LEI the abstract senses (“reasoning”, “theme”) are found in all the Romance languages, as in French argument (1170), Catalan argument, Spanish argumento and Portuguese argumento, while the concrete senses (“means, device, tool”) are only Italian.[3][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is the Venetian Proverbia que dicuntur of the late 12th century, and the LEI's first argomento is in the Fiori di filosafi of about 1274.[2][3] The earliest sense is the reasoning by which one proves a statement;[4][2] DELI dates it to Bono Giamboni, before 1292.[4][2]

Semantic evolution

Brunetto Latini's Rettorica follows Cicero in calling invention the art of finding argomenti, true or likely, to make a case believed.[9] Old Italian also used the word for a sign or proof, a cause or motive, and a means, remedy or contrivance: Dante's tutti argomenti a la salute sua eran già corti (“all means for his salvation were already short”).[2][6] Boccaccio uses argomenti for the tools of thieves, and the word became a euphemism for an enema.[6]

The sense “subject matter of a speech or a work” is recorded from 1481–1484 in Lorenzo de' Medici, and is now the commonest one, with a summary of a work's content.[4][6] Mathematics and logic use it for the variable of a function, and linguistics for an element tied to the verb.[10][6]

Timeline

  • Late 12th century – Argomento in the Proverbia que dicuntur.[2]
  • c. 1274 – The Fiori di filosafi has argomento.[3]
  • Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a proof in reasoning.[4]
  • Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini has argomentare.[4]
  • 1481 – Cristoforo Landino has argomentazione.[4]
  • 1481–1484 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses it for the subject of a work.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An argument, a reason given in support of a thesis: I tuoi argomenti non mi hanno convinto.[6][11][10]
  2. A pretext, motive: dare argomento ai pettegolezzi.[6][10]
  3. A topic, the subject of a conversation, a speech or a work; also a summary of a work: Parliamo d'altro, questo argomento mi annoia.[6][11][10]
  4. (mathematics, logic) The independent variable of a function.[6][10]
  5. (linguistics) An element linked to the verb that completes the core of a clause.[10]
  6. (obsolete) A sign, indication; a means or remedy.[6][10]

Word family

  • argomentare
  • argomentazione
  • argomentatore
  • argomentativo

Usage notes

Cambiare argomento is “to change the subject”, and entrare in argomento “to come to the point”.[11][6] In grammar the complemento di argomento is the phrase that states what is spoken of (parlare di politica).[6][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  3. ^ a b c d Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 3, 1125
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  5. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  9. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 1, 648
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  11. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier