Inmathematics, anargument of afunction is a value provided to obtain the function's result. It is also called anindependent variable.[1]
For example, thebinary function has two arguments, and, in anordered pair. Thehypergeometric function is an example of a four-argument function. The number of arguments that a function takes is called thearity of the function. A function that takes a single argument as input, such as, is called aunary function. A function of two or more variables is considered to have adomain consisting of ordered pairs ortuples of argument values. The argument of acircular function is anangle. The argument of ahyperbolic function is ahyperbolic angle.
A mathematical function has one or more arguments in the form of independent variables designated in the definition, which can also containparameters. The independent variables are mentioned in the list of arguments that the function takes, whereas the parameters are not. For example, in thelogarithmic function thebase is considered a parameter.
Sometimes,subscripts can be used to denote arguments. For example, we can use subscripts to denote the arguments with respect to whichpartial derivatives are taken.[2]
The use of the term "argument" in this sense developed fromastronomy, which historically used tables to determine the spatial positions of planets from their positions in the sky (ephemerides). These tables were organized according to measured angles called arguments, literally "that which elucidates something else."[3][4]
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