Etymologically
Log in

textual

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 22:33. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈtɛks.tju.əl/, /ˈtɛks.tʃu.əl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English textuel,[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Anglo-Norman textual (“corresponding exactly to a text”), also textuel, partly borrowed from Medieval Latin textuālis (“relating to a text”),[3][5][6][7] from textus (“text”) and the suffix -ālis.[3][6] The Latin noun comes from texō (“to weave”).[8] The MED suggests that Chaucer may have coined it himself from the Latin noun,[2] and Etymonline likewise allows a Middle English coinage beside a borrowing from Old French textuel.[9] The early spelling textuel is found only in manuscripts of Chaucer; from the late 15th century the spelling was conformed to Latin.[3][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, learned in texts, well-read: about 1390, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, where the Manciple says that he is "a man noght textuel".[2][3][11]

Semantic evolution

Chaucer's sense of a person versed in texts, especially sacred texts, lasted until about 1704.[3][6] The sense now usual, "of or relating to the text of a work", is first found in Henryson’s Aesop fables, from before 1500, and was used especially of the Scriptures.[3][12] From 1608 it meant based on a text, word for word,[3] and in the early 17th century (1613–24) it was used of Jews who held to the written Scriptures against rabbinic tradition.[3] The modern contrast between written words and other media, as in textual information, is recorded from 1843.[3] Etymonline notes that textual and textuary were formed for text and not for textile, since the classical Latin adjectives referred to weaving.[9] Wiktionary records a recent playful use for text messages, by analogy with sexual.[1]

Timeline

  • c. 1390 – of a person, learned in texts (obsolete by 1704).[2][3]
  • before 1500 – of or relating to a text, especially of the Scriptures.[3]
  • 1590 – noun, a person concerned with the written text.[3]
  • 1608 – based on a text; word for word.[3]
  • 1843 – consisting of written words, as opposed to other media.[3]
  • 1957 – in psychology, of reading aloud.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of, relating to or based on a text: textual differences between the two editions.[4][13][14][15][3]
  2. Based on or conforming to the exact wording of a text, especially of scripture.[15][3]
  3. Consisting of written words, as opposed to images or other media.[3]
  4. (obsolete, c. 1390–1704) Of a person, learned in texts; well-read.[3][6][2]

Word family

  • textually
  • textuality
  • nontextual
  • textualist
  • intertextual
  • textualism

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
  9. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  11. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
  12. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  14. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  15. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins