argue

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To disagree with someone, often in an angry way.

   They were arguing about money again last night.

2. 2
   verb

   To give reasons to support an opinion or idea.

   She argued that the law should be changed.

3. 3
   verb

   To be a sign or evidence of something.

   The rise in crime argues for tougher sentences.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Argue derives from a Latin verb that could mean both “make good an accusation; convict” and “make clear, prove, or assert.” The accusatory sense is the earliest recorded in English, while the latter group of meanings appeared by the early 16th century; this inherited ambiguity remains in argue and argument.

Etymology tree Latin arguōder. Old French arguerbor. Middle English arguen English argue From Middle English arguen, from Old French arguer, from Latin arguere (“to declare, show, prove, make clear, reprove, accuse”), q.v. for more. Displaced native Old English flītan and reċċan.

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