Context
/ˈkɒn.tɛkst/noun
The words, circumstances, or setting surrounding a statement or event that help determine its meaning.
Did you know?Context comes from Latin *contextus*, the past participle of *contexere* (“to weave together”), so the original image is literally language and events being braided into one fabric.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
tek-
“to weave, fabricate”
Latin
Latin
texere
“to weave, braid, construct”
Latin
Latin
contexere
“to weave together, join into a whole”
Latin
Latin
contextus
“a joining together; a coherent arrangement of words or events”
Middle French
Old French
contexte
“the circumstances or words surrounding a passage”
Modern English
English
context
“the surrounding words or circumstances that determine meaning”