CS Knowledge Base

From Middle English text, from Old French texte, from Medieval Latin textus, from Latin textus (“style or texture of a work”), perfect passive participle of texō (“to weave”). Cognate to English texture.

• enPR: tĕkst, IPA^(key): /tɛkst/

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -ɛkst
• Hyphenation: text

text (countable and uncountable, plural texts)

1. A writing consisting of multiple glyphs, characters, symbols or sentences.
2. A book, tome or other set of writings.
3. (by extension) Anything chosen as the subject of an argument, literary composition, etc.
4. (colloquial) Ellipsis of text message, a brief written message transmitted between mobile phones.
   • 2004, Amy Winehouse, Salaam Remi, “Fuck Me Pumps”, in Frank, performed by Amy Winehouse:

     In the morning, you're vexed / He's on to the next / And you didn't even get no text

5. (computing) Data which can be interpreted as human-readable text.

   Antonym: binary

   Coordinate term: plain text

6. A verse or passage of Scripture, especially one chosen as the subject of a sermon, or in proof of a doctrine.

   Synonyms: topic, theme

7. (printing) A style of writing in large characters; also, a kind of type used in printing.

   Synonym: text hand

   German text

text (third-person singular simple present texts, present participle texting, simple past and past participle texted or (colloquial) text)

1. (transitive) To send a text message to; i.e. to transmit text using the Short Message Service (SMS), or a similar service, between communications devices, particularly mobile phones.

   Synonyms: message, (UK) SMS

   Just text me when you get here.

   I'll text the address to you as soon as I find it.

2. (intransitive) To send and receive text messages.

   Have you been texting all afternoon?

3. (dated) To write in large characters, as in text hand.
   • 1607–21, Phillip Massinger, Beaumont and Fletcher, The Tragedy of Thierry and Theodoret, act 2, scene 1:

     I wish / (Next to my part of Heav'n) that she would spend / The last part of her life so here, that all / Indifferent judges might condemn me for / A most malicious slanderer, nay, text it / Upon my forehead

   • 2009, Lain Fenlon, Early Music History: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music‎^[1] (Music), Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page p. 223:

     The basic plan is simple. For the first two phrases the texted line is above the untexted; for the next two, bring us to the midpoint cadence, the texted line is for the most part lower; and the in the second half the texted material starts lower, moves into the upper position and finally occupies the bottom range again.

• → Welsh: tecstio

• Text in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)
• “text”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• text in Keywords for Today: A 21st Century Vocabulary, edited by The Keywords Project, Colin MacCabe, Holly Yanacek, 2018.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “text”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Borrowed from Medieval Latin textus (“text”), from Latin textus, perfect passive participle of texō (“weave”). First attested in the 14th century.^[1]

• IPA^(key): (Northern) [ˈte̞kst]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Central, Northwestern) [ˈtekst]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈtɛkst]

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text m (plural texts or textos)

1. text

• hipertext
• subtext
• textar

• pretext
• textual

• “text”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “text” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “text”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

• IPA^(key): [ˈtɛkst]

text m inan

1. text

   text knihy ― the text of the book

   text písně ― lyrics

   text smlouvy ― the text of the contract

• “text”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “text”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

From Persian تخت (taxt).

text m

1. throne
2. bed
3. wood, tree

• textî
• textîn
• textînî

• Cabolov, R. L. (2010), Etimologičeskij slovarʹ kurdskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Kurdish Language] (in Russian), volume II, Moscow: Russian Academy Press Vostochnaya Literatura, page 389

Borrowed from French texte, Latin textus.

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text n (plural texte)

1. text

• “text”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026

Derived from Latin textus.

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text c

1. text

• “text”, in Svenska Akademiens ordböcker [Dictionaries of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• text in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)