■ noun
1》 a heated exchange of conflicting views.
2》 a set of reasons given in support of something.
3》 Mathematics & Logic an independent variable associated with a function or proposition and determining its value, e.g. x in y = F(x) .
4》 Linguistics any of the noun phrases in a clause that are related directly to the verb.
5》 archaic a summary of the subject matter of a book.
Origin
ME: via OFr. from L. ~um , from arguere 'make clear, prove, accuse'.