Analysis: The breaking down or separating of a statement or claim into meaningful parts or categories.

Burden of proof: The responsibility to uphold a proposition. In formal debate, the person who assumes the affirmative position carries the burden of proof.

Debate Ballot: A form used by judges of formal debates to assess the performance of the debaters.

Evidence: The information or physical records offered by someone who is trying to support a statement or claim.

Presumption: Belief on reasonable grounds or probable evidence. In formal debate, the person who assumes the negative position operates on the basis of presumption.

Proof: A surprisingly subjective term, proof is the demonstration or evidence that a claim or proposition is true. However, truth is often a matter of interpretation, and it can depend on how the evidence or demonstration is presented.

Proposition: A statement that advocates a course of action or a judgement, for example, The death penalty should be abolished.

Rebuttal: A process of rebuilding or strengthening an argument after it has been attacked by an opponent.

Refutation: A process of disproving or weakening the arguments of an opponent

Warrant: The connection between the claim one makes and the evidence that supports that claim.

For more on these and other terms of debate, see Colburn, William C. Strategies for Educational Debate. Boston: Holbrook Press, 1972.