argument Copy link Outline I. A reason alleged in support or proof of any proposition1. argūmentum2. rătĭoII. A debate, discussionIII. The subject of a discourse or literary productionIV. An abstract or summary • argument: I. A reason alleged in support or proof of any proposition: 1. argūmentum: an a. is a reason which gains assent to a doubtful matter, a. est ratio quae rei dubiae facit fidem, Cic.: you show by many weighty a.s that there are gods, multis et gravibus a. deos esse doces, Cic.: he endeavoured to refute these positions by instances rather than by a.s, ea exemplis magis quam argumentis conabatur refellere, Cic.: to amplify an a., a. dilatare, Cic.: the force of an a., vis argumenti, Quint.: an assemblage of a.s, congregatio argumentorum, Quint.: some a.s it is not enough merely to state; they must be supported, quaedam a. ponere satis non est; adjuvanda sunt, Quint.: very powerful a.s, potentissima a., Quint. To produce or allege a.s, argūmentor, 1: I shall not produce those circumstances as a.s, weighty as they are, illa non argumentabor, quae sunt gravia vehementer, Cic.: to produce probable a.s, probabiliter a., Liv.: v. to argue (I). 2. rătĭo: Cic.: v. reason. II. A debate, discussion: q. v.; dispŭtātĭo. III. The subject of a discourse or literary production: argūmentum: the a. of this tragedy, a. hujus tragoediae, Pl.: the a. of a play, fabulae a., Ter.: the a. of a letter, epistolae a., Cic. So Milton: "rise to the height of this great a.," *ad res tantas tamque excelsas eniti: v. subject. IV. An abstract or summary: q. v.: epitome.