Etymologically
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This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 19:32. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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