Arguing

How to spell arguing

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce arguing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does arguing mean?

1. verbPresenting reasons for or against something, or quarrelling and disputing with another person.

Arguing in a sentence

• The couple in the next flat were arguing loudly about money again.

• The lawyer spent the morning arguing that the contract was invalid.

Where does arguing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the present participle of the verb 'argue', which entered English in the 1300s from Old French arguer, meaning 'to assert' or 'to reason'. That word descends from the Latin arguere, which literally meant 'to make clear', 'to prove', or sometimes 'to accuse', and which is connected to a sense of brightening or making something shine clear. Over time the meaning slid from simply proving a point to the more combative modern sense of disputing and quarrelling. The spelling trap lies in the silent 'e' of 'argue': when '-ing' is added, that final 'e' is dropped, leaving 'arguing' rather than the tempting but wrong 'argueing'. The same arguere root also gave us 'argument' and the legal term 'argumentation', all sharing the idea of laying a case out clearly.

How the word is built

• argu- (from Latin arguere: to make clear, prove, accuse)
• -ing (present participle/gerund suffix)