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argumentativus

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word argumentativus

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 310–380 Donatus More words from the 4th century
Ultimate origin
Latin argumentor
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin arguō
Latin argūmentum
Italian argomento
Romanian argument
Spanish argumento
Latin argūmentor
Latin argumentativus
English argumentative
From the same root
Latin argūtus ← arguō
Latin coarguō ← arguō
Latin redarguō ← arguō
Latin argūmentōsus ← argūmentum
Latin argūmentātiō ← argūmentor

Forms

argūmentātīvus (feminine argūmentātīva, neuter argūmentātīvum); first/second-declension adjective.[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Latin argūmentor (“to adduce proof, reason”), with the suffix -īvus.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Donatus, in his treatise on comedy, calls a kind of prologue argumentativus, one that sets out the plot of the play.[3][1][2][4]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin it is recorded only in this sense, of a prologue that explains the plot.[3][1][2] Medieval scholastics used it in the sense “arguing, proceeding by proof”: Albertus Magnus speaks of a science that must argue and use syllogisms,[5] and Thomas Aquinas asks whether sacred doctrine is argumentativa.[6] The Lexicon Bohemorum records both senses.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 310–380 AD – Donatus calls a prologue that sets out the plot argumentativus.[3][4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Setting out the plot (of a prologue).[3][1][2]
  2. (Medieval Latin) Proceeding by argument or proof; argumentative.[5][6][7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  2. ^ a b c d e Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  3. ^ a b c d e Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
  7. ^ a b Latinitatis medii aevi lexicon Bohemorum / Slovník středověké latiny v českých zemích (1977–), Prague: Academia; electronic version, Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences
Cite this entry

“Argumentativus.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/argumentativus. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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