argomento Italian · revision 39127

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=late 12th century, Proverbia que dicuntur|origins=la arguō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ar.ɡoˈmen.to/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''argomento''' ''m'' (plural argomenti)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old Italian also had [[m|roa-oit|argumento]], and the dialects [[scn|argumentu]] and Neapolitan [[m|nap|argomiento]].^(TLIO)^(LEI|3, 1125)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|argūmentum|t=proof, reason; subject]], with its derivatives [[m|la|argūmentor|t=to argue]] and [[m|la|argūmentātiō]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun is formed from [[m|la|arguō|t=to show, prove]] with the suffix [[m|la|-mentum]].^(DELI 1999)^(Wiktionary)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ De Vaan takes [[m|la|arguō]] as probably a verb meaning “to make bright, enlighten”, from an adjective [[itc-pro|*argu-|t=bright]] that is also continued in [[m|la|argūtus|t=clever; clear-sounding]], from [[ine-pro|*h₂erǵ-u-|t=white]], the root of [[grc|ἄργυρος|tr=árguros|t=silver]].^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) Others compare instead a Hittite verb meaning “to make a plea”.^(Wiktionary)^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ According to the LEI the abstract senses (“reasoning”, “theme”) are found in all the Romance languages, as in [[fr|argument]] (1170), [[ca|argument]], [[es|argumento]] and [[pt|argumento]], while the concrete senses (“means, device, tool”) are only Italian.^(LEI|3, 1125)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==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.^(TLIO)^(LEI|3, 1125) The earliest sense is the reasoning by which one proves a statement;^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO) DELI dates it to Bono Giamboni, before 1292.^(DELI 1999)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Brunetto Latini's ''Rettorica'' follows Cicero in calling invention the art of finding ''argomenti'', true or likely, to make a case believed.^(GDLI|1, 648) 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”).^(TLIO)^(GRADIT 2003) Boccaccio uses ''argomenti'' for the tools of thieves, and the word became a euphemism for an enema.^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ 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.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003) Mathematics and logic use it for the variable of a function, and linguistics for an element tied to the verb.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(GRADIT 2003)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 12th century – ''Argomento'' in the ''Proverbia que dicuntur''.^(TLIO)

+ * c. 1274 – The ''Fiori di filosafi'' has ''argomento''.^(LEI|3, 1125)

+ * Before 1292 – Bono Giamboni uses it for a proof in reasoning.^(DELI 1999)

+ * Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini has ''argomentare''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1481 – Cristoforo Landino has ''argomentazione''.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1481–1484 – Lorenzo de' Medici uses it for the subject of a work.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[m|en|argument]], a reason given in support of a thesis: ''I tuoi argomenti non mi hanno convinto.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A pretext, motive: ''dare argomento ai pettegolezzi''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A [[m|en|topic]], the subject of a conversation, a speech or a work; also a summary of a work: ''Parliamo d'altro, questo argomento mi annoia.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(mathematics, logic)'' The independent variable of a [[funzione|alt=function]].^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(linguistics)'' An element linked to the verb that completes the core of a clause.^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' A sign, indication; a means or remedy.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[argomentare]]

+ * [[argomentazione]]

+ * [[argomentatore]]

+ * [[argomentativo]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[arguire]]

+ * [[arguto]]

+ * [[la|argūmentum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Cambiare argomento'' is “to change the subject”, and ''entrare in argomento'' “to come to the point”.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(GRADIT 2003) In grammar the ''complemento di argomento'' is the phrase that states what is spoken of (''parlare di politica'').^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}