text

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tekst/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English texte,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French texte, Old North French tixte “text, book, Gospels”,^[4][5][3] from Medieval Latin textus (“the Scriptures; a text, treatise”),^[4][6] in Late Latin “written account, content”,^[4][2] from Latin textus (“style or texture of a work”), literally “thing woven”,^[4][6] from the past participle of texere (“to weave, join, construct”),^[4][2] from Proto-Indo-European *teks- (“to weave, to fabricate”).^[4][2] Latin texere is related to Greek téchnē “art, skill” and téktōn “carpenter”.^[6][7] It is related to texture, textile and context.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The wording of anything written: 1369, in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess.^[6][9]

Semantic evolution

Also from the late 14th century, a text was an authoritative writing, the original as distinct from a translation or commentary, and especially a passage of the Bible used as a proof or as the subject of a sermon.^[4][9] Hence, generally, “a subject, theme”, from about 1600.^[4][3] Robert Bringhurst describes the ancient metaphor behind the word: scribes made the written page so even that they called it textus, cloth.^[4] The verb meant “to write in text-hand”, the large writing used for the body of a manuscript, from 1599.^[9][4] A digital text message is by 2005, and the verb “to send a text message” from the same year.^[4][1] Textbook is from 1730, first a book into which students copied a classic text.^[6]

Timeline

• 1369 – the wording of a writing.^[6][9]
• late 14th century – a passage of Scripture.^[4]
• c. 1390 – textual.^[6]
• 1599 – verb, to write in text-hand.^[9]
• c. 1600 – a subject, theme.^[4]
• 1730 – textbook.^[6]
• 2005 – a text message; verb, to send one.^[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The words of something written or printed.
2. The main body of a book, as distinct from notes and illustrations.
3. The original words of a work, as distinct from a translation or paraphrase.
4. A passage of Scripture used as the subject of a sermon.
5. A book studied in a course; a textbook.
6. A text message.

Verb

1. To send a text message to.

Word family

• textless

Related words

• texture
• textile
• context
• pretext
• technical
• architect
• subtle
• toil

Usage notes

Now that text is common as a verb, “to send a text message”, its final /t/ is often dropped at the end of a word, giving /teks/.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press