context English · revision 4105

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1425|origins=la contexere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkɒn.tekst/, US /ˈkɑːn.tekst/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|context|t=composition; a weaving together of words]],^(AHD 2000)^(MW Collegiate) [[bor|la|contextus|t=a joining together; connection, coherence]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) originally the past participle of [[m|la|contexere|t=to weave together, join, connect]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from con- “together” and [[m|la|texere|t=to weave, make]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*teks-|t=to weave, fabricate]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is related to [[text]], [[textile]] and [[texture]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A literary composition, a chronicle, the whole text of a writing: probably before 1425, in a translation of Higden's Polychronicon,^(Barnhart 1988) the early 15th century in Etymonline;^(Etymonline) the OED's first sense, the weaving together of words and sentences, is from 1432–50.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The connected structure of a writing is from 1526.^(OED 1989) “The parts of a text or discourse that precede or follow a given passage and are directly connected with it” is from the 1560s,^(Etymonline) about 1568 in Barnhart, the OED and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The transferred sense, the circumstances or setting in which something happens, is from 1842,^(OED 1989) and ''in this context'', “in this connection”, from 1873.^(OED 1989) ''Contextual'' is from the 19th century.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1425 – a composition.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1526 – the structure of a writing.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1568 – the surrounding text.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1842 – circumstances, setting.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1873 – ''in this context''.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The part of a text or statement around a word or passage that helps fix its meaning.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The circumstances in which something happens; a [[setting]]: ''in a historical context''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[contextless]]

+ * [[contextual]]

+ * [[contextually]]

+ * [[context-free]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[text]]

+ * [[textile]]

+ * [[texture]]

+ * [[pretext]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}