mid-15c., "presentation of formal arguments," from Old French argumentacion (14c.), from Latin argumentationem (nominative argumentatio) "the bringing forth of a proof," noun of action from past-participle stem of argumentari "adduce proof, draw a conclusion," from argumentum (see argument). Meaning "debate, wrangling, argument back and forth" is from 1530s.
c. 1300, "act of presenting," from Old French presentement "presentation (of a person) at a ceremony" (12c.), from presenter (see present (v.)). From c. 1600 as "anything presented or exhibited." In law, "statement by a grand jury of an offense without a bill of indictment" (mid-15c.).
1580s, "description," a sense now obsolete, from display (v.). Meaning "exhibition, a spreading of anything to the view," commonly with a suggestion of ostentation or striving for effect, is from 1680s. Meaning "presentation of electronic signals on a screen" is from 1945 in reference to radar, by 1960 of computers. Display-window is attested by 1893.
"formal public speaking; the art of eloquence," 1580s, from Latin (ars) oratoria "oratorical (art)," fem. of oratorius "of speaking or pleading, pertaining to an orator," from ōrare "to speak, pray, plead" (see orator).
Oratory is the art or the act of speaking, or the speech. Rhetoric is the theory of the art of composing discourse in either the spoken or the written form. Elocution is the manner of speaking or the theory of the art of speaking ...: the word is equally applicable to the presentation of one's own or of another's thoughts. [Century Dictionary]
"evident in itself without proof or reasoning; producing clear conviction upon a bare presentation to the mind," 1680s, from self- + evident. First in Locke's "Essay Concerning Human Understanding." In Jefferson's rough draft of the American Declaration of Independence (1776), the word is written, in Franklin's handwriting, in place of the stricken out phrase sacred and undeniable. Related: Self-evidently; self-evidence; self-evidencing (1650s).
"television drama based on real events," by 1957, American English, from documentary + drama. The first so-called appears to have been written as a stage play, "We Call to Mind," a "dramatic presentation of the development of education and its significance in American life," written by Philip C. Lewis and produced by the Tenafly, New Jersey, Citizens Education Council and the Tenafly Drama Workshop after the defeat of a school budget.
late 14c., "act of bringing into existence," from Old French introduccion (14c.) and directly from Latin introductionem (nominative introductio) "a leading in," noun of action from past-participle stem of introducere "to lead in, bring in; introduce; found, establish; bring forward (as an assertion)," from intro- "inward, to the inside" (see intro-) + ducere "to lead" (from PIE root *deuk- "to lead").
Meanings "initial instruction in a subject" and "an introductory statement" are from mid-15c.; meaning "elementary treatise on some subject" is from 1520s. The sense of "formal presentation of one person to another" is from 1711.
Meaning "ground for belief" is from late 14c.; that of "obviousness" is from 1660s and tacks closely to the sense of evident. Legal senses are from c. 1500, when it began to oust witness. Also "one who furnishes testimony, witness" (1590s); hence turn (State's) evidence.
