Etymology

From patron, a model or exemplar. The sense ‘repeated decorative design’ is later. The cognitive sense (apparent recurrence) is later still, and needs a denominator.1

Semantic range

Hits, misses, base rates, selection, priming, source, meaning, claim. A pattern is not yet an argument.

What the gloss loses

Pattern sounds objective. Much of what we call pattern is the work of attention plus memory plus a wish that the world be less noisy.

Misuse

Displaying hits without misses. Letting a cipher decide a conclusion.