text

[tekst] /tɛkst/
noun
1.
the main body of matter in a manuscript, book, newspaper, etc., as distinguished from notes, appendixes, headings, illustrations, etc.
2.
the original words of an author or speaker, as opposed to a translation, paraphrase, commentary, or the like:
The newspaper published the whole text of the speech.
3.
the actual wording of anything written or printed:
You have not kept to the text of my remarks.
4.
any of the various forms in which a writing exists:
The text is a medieval transcription.
5.
the wording adopted by an editor as representing the original words of an author:
the authoritative text of Catullus.
6.
any theme or topic; subject.
7.
the words of a song or the like.
8.
a textbook.
9.
a short passage of Scripture, especially one chosen in proof of a doctrine or as the subject of a sermon: The text he chose was the Sermon on the Mount.
10.
the letter of the Holy Scripture, or the Scriptures themselves.
11.
Printing.
  1. black letter.
  2. type, as distinguished from illustrations, margins, etc.
12.
Linguistics. a unit of connected speech or writing, especially composed of more than one sentence, that forms a cohesive whole.
13.
anything considered to be a subject for analysis by or as if by methods of literary criticism.
14.
Digital Technology. a text message.
verb (used without object), Digital Technology
15.
to send a text message:
Texting while driving is an accident asking to happen.
verb (used with object), Digital Technology
16.
to send a text message about or containing:
He texted a long wish list to his parents two days before his eighteenth birthday.
Compare instant message (def 2).
17.
to send a text message to:
The only way I can ever reach her is to text her.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English < Medieval Latin textus text, terms, Latin: text, structure, orig., pattern of weaving, texture (of cloth), equivalent to tex(ere) to weave + -tus suffix of v. action
Related forms
textless, adjective
Examples from the web for text
  • The earliest electronic textbooks simply offered the text of the printed book on a computer.
  • It should adhere to e-book standards, so that electronic text is readable centuries from now.
  • In my era, there was the ubiquitous comic book hidden in a boring text.
  • The group gets its own phone number, and a text sent to that number goes to everyone in the group.
  • Rewriting text is ok as long as the truth is included.
  • The appendix includes many of the equations and graphs discussed in the text.
  • Many colleges have adopted text alerts as part of their emergency notification plans.
  • There has to be a better way of typing text messages on cell phones.
  • One example would be to teach a neural network to convert printed text to speech.
  • Regulators and mobile-phone carriers scramble to prevent unwanted text messages from becoming as overwhelming as junk e-mail.
British Dictionary definitions for text

text

/tɛkst/
noun
1.
the main body of a printed or written work as distinct from commentary, notes, illustrations, etc
2.
the words of something printed or written
3.
(often pl) a book prescribed as part of a course of study
4.
(computing) the words printed, written, or displayed on a visual display unit
5.
the original exact wording of a work, esp the Bible, as distinct from a revision or translation
6.
a short passage of the Bible used as a starting point for a sermon or adduced as proof of a doctrine
7.
the topic or subject of a discussion or work
8.
(printing) any one of several styles of letters or types
9.
short for textbook
10.
short for text message
verb
11.
to send a text message from a mobile phone
Derived Forms
textless, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Medieval Latin textus version, from Latin textus texture, from texere to compose
Word Origin and History for text
n.

late 14c., "wording of anything written," from Old French texte, Old North French tixte (12c.), from Medieval Latin textus "the Scriptures, text, treatise," in Late Latin "written account, content, characters used in a document," from Latin textus "style or texture of a work," literally "thing woven," from past participle stem of texere "to weave," from PIE root *tek- "to weave, to fabricate, to make; make wicker or wattle framework" (see texture).

An ancient metaphor: thought is a thread, and the raconteur is a spinner of yarns -- but the true storyteller, the poet, is a weaver. The scribes made this old and audible abstraction into a new and visible fact. After long practice, their work took on such an even, flexible texture that they called the written page a textus, which means cloth. [Robert Bringhurst, "The Elements of Typographic Style"]

v.

"to send a text message by mobile system," 2005; see text (n.). Related: Texted; texting. It formerly was a verb meaning "to write in text letters" (1590s).

text in Technology


1. Executable code, especially a "pure code" portion shared between multiple instances of a program running in a multitasking operating system.
Compare English.
2. Textual material in the mainstream sense; data in ordinary ASCII or EBCDIC representation (see flat ASCII). "Those are text files; you can review them using the editor."
These two contradictory senses confuse hackers too.
[Jargon File]
(1995-03-16)