A dispute may be personal, fractious, and petty a debate is formal and orderly if otherwise, it becomes a mere wrangle.Īrgue, contend, controvert, debate, demonstrate, discuss, dispute, establish, prove, question, wrangle We reason about a matter by bringing up all that reason can give us on any side. Reason is a neutral word, not, like argue, debate, discuss, etc., naturally or necessarily implying contest. That which has been either demonstrated or proved so as to secure general acceptance is said to be established. To demonstrate is to force the mind to a conclusion by irresistible reasoning to prove is rather to establish a fact by evidence as, to prove one innocent or guilty. Demonstrate strictly applies to mathematical or exact reasoning prove may be used in the same sense, but is often applied to reasoning upon matters of fact by what is called probable evidence, which can give only moral and not absolute or mathematical certainty. To argue (Latin arguo, show) is to make a matter clear by reasoning to discuss (Latin dis, apart, and quatio, shake) is, etymologically, to shake it apart for examination and analysis. Persons may contend either from mere ill will or self-interest, or from the highest motives "That ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints," Jude 3. Notes at the bottom of a dictionary entry-especially usage notes and synonym studies-are often where we’ll find the detailed information that allows us to improve (or refine or polish ) our writing.To reason is to examine by means of the reason, to prove by reasoning, or to influence or seek to influence others by reasoning or reasons. Lists of synonyms are useful when we are struggling to write and looking for just the right word, but each word must be considered in light of its specific definition. The verbs make and construct mean roughly the same thing, but one is more likely to make a cake but construct a building, which is a more complex undertaking. A sunset might be described equally well as beautiful or resplendent, but a beautiful baby would not usually be described as resplendent, which implies an especially dazzling appearance. And when we move from nouns to other parts of speech, we almost always find subtle but important differences among synonyms: although the meanings overlap, they differ in emphasis and connotation. But forest and wood, though often interchangeable, have different shades of meaning: a forest tends to be larger and denser than a wood. And if you ask for a soda on the east coast of the U.S., you’ll get the same drink that asking for a pop will get you farther west. Just about every popular dictionary defines synonym as a term having “the same or nearly the same” meaning as another, but there is an important difference between “the same” and “nearly the same.” Noun synonyms sometimes mean exactly the same thing. English, with its long history of absorbing terminology from a wealth of other tongues, is a language particularly rich in synonyms -words so close in meaning that in many contexts they are interchangeable, like the nouns tongue and language in the first part of this sentence.