argument vs discourse

argument

noun
  • A process of reasoning; argumentation. 

  • An abstract or summary of the content of a literary work such as a book, a poem or a major section such as a chapter, included in the work before the content itself; (figuratively) the contents themselves. 

  • Any dispute, altercation, or collision. 

  • The independent variable of a function. 

  • A value, or a reference to a value, passed to a function. 

  • A parameter at a function call; an actual parameter, as opposed to a formal parameter. 

  • Any of the phrases that bears a syntactic connection to the verb of a clause. 

  • A fact or statement used to support a proposition; a reason. 

  • The phase of a complex number. 

  • A quantity on which the calculation of another quantity depends. 

  • A verbal dispute; a quarrel. 

  • A series of propositions organized so that the final proposition is a conclusion which is intended to follow logically from the preceding propositions, which function as premises. 

discourse

noun
  • An institutionalized way of thinking, a social boundary defining what can be said about a specific topic (after Michel Foucault). 

  • Expression in words, either speech or writing. 

  • A formal lengthy exposition of some subject, either spoken or written. 

  • Any rational expression, reason. 

verb
  • To exercise reason; to employ the mind in judging and inferring; to reason. 

  • To engage in discussion or conversation; to converse. 

  • To write or speak formally and at length. 

How often have the words argument and discourse occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )