textn.1
/tɛkst/, U.S. /tɛkst/ 1. † b. Applied vaguely to an original or authority whose words are quoted. Obsolete.
a. The wording of anything written or printed; the structure formed by the words in their order; the very words, phrases, and sentences as written.
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society > communication > writing > written text > [noun]
rounOE
pagine?c1225
writ-rounc1275
dite1340
writing1340
paperc1390
scripturea1400
writinga1400
charactc1400
textc1400
papera1500
black and white1569
page?1606
character1609
litera scripta1660
matter1683
legend1822
screed1834
reading1836
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1515 F[or] to telle of þis teuelyng of þis trwe knyȝteȝ, Hit is the tytelet token & tyxt of her werkkeȝ.
c1400 (?c1380) Cleanness l. 1634 Fyrst telle me þe tyxte of þe tede lettres.
c1500 Melusine (1895) xii. 45 They delyuered to Raymondyn the ground that was gyuen to hym after the texte or tenour of hys lettres.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. lxvv For those wordes.., this is my body, Luther vnderstode barely and symply after the texte of the letter.
1678 R. Cudworth tr. Plutarch in True Intellect. Syst. Universe i. iv. 240 The most of Plato's Followers..offering all kind of violence to his Text.
1728 J. Swift To Stella in J. Swift et al. Misc. Last vol. 296 Say, Stella, when you copy next, Will you keep strictly to the Text?
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. liii. 326 Without venturing to propose alterations in the text of the Constitution.
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society > communication > book > kind of book > authoritative or standard book > [noun]
authority?c1225
texta1400
authentica1475
Alcoran1550
Bible1804
breviary1826
standard1837
a1400–50 Alexander 214 It be-tid on a tyme þe text me recordis, Þat þe mode kynge..farne out of toune.
c1540 (?a1400) Destr. Troy 4007 But truly I telle as þe text sais.
c. figurative or in allusive use.
ΚΠ
c1440 York Myst. xxv. 535 Hayll! texte of trewthe þe trew to taste. Hayll! kyng & sire.
1589 W. Warner Albions Eng. (new ed.) vi. xxxi. 136 Ply Sir..your busie trade, you are besides the Tex.
1641 Naunton's Fragmenta Regalia sig. B2v It is not without the text to give a short touch of the helps and advantages of her raigne.
d. The wording adopted by an editor as (in his or her opinion) most nearly representing the author's original work; a book or edition containing this; also, with qualification, any form in which a writing exists or is current, as a good text, bad text, corrupt text, critical text, received text.
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society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > form or wording in which writing survives
texta1832
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > textual criticism > version of text > [noun]
makinga1382
text1870
a1832 J. T. Graves Rom. & Canon Law in Encycl. Metrop. (1845) II. 770/1 Hänel, the latest editor, has not inserted these seven constitutions in his text.
1841–8 F. Myers Catholic Thoughts II. iii. §8. 26 Our present Received Text has been a growth—improved from many and various sources.
1870 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1877) II. App. 658 The text seems very corrupt.
1875 F. H. A. Scrivener 6 Lect. Text New Test. 7 The vast importance of preserving a pure text of the sacred writers.
1891 Athenæum 15 Aug. 219/1 No attempt has been made to settle the text.
2. esp. The very words and sentences as originally written:
a. in the original language, as opposed to a translation or rendering.
b. in the original form and order, as distinguished from a commentary, marginal or other, or from annotations. Hence, in later use, the body of any treatise, the authoritative or formal part as distinguished from notes, appendices, introduction, and other explanatory or supplementary matter.
ΚΠ
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xvii. 12 Dilige deum & proximum tuum, &c. Þis was þe tixte trewly..; Þe glose was gloriousely writen.
c1385 G. Chaucer Legend Good Women (MS. Gg) Prol. 86 The nakede tixt in englis to declare.
a1430 26 Pol. Poems xx. 1 The tixt of holy writ,..Hit sleeþ, but glose be among.
a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. in Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Cambr. Mm.2.15) (1850) xv. 57 This symple creature hadde myche trauaile,..to studie it [Latin Bible] of the newe, the text with the glose.
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 406/1 Nowe cummeth Tyndale and..sheweth that the latine texte and the Greke may bee hys excuse and defence.
1576 A. Fleming Panoplie Epist. 179 (margin) τί τῳ̑ λογῳ̑ sayth the Greeke text: Quidnam oratione, saith the Latine interpretation.
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Cymon & Iphigenia in Fables 542 When his broad Comment makes the Text too plain.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. iii. iii. 168 Coke upon Lyttleton, where the Comment is of equal Authority with the Text . View more context for this quotation
1804 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) III. 25 As these accompaniments, or possibly the text are seldom read.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Vivien in Idylls of King 129 And none can read the text, not even I; And none can read the comment but myself.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 256 There still remains an ambiguity both in the text and in the explanation.
1908 Athenæum 8 Aug. 147/3 All his references are to Arabic texts.
c. That portion of the contents of a manuscript or printed book, or of a page, which constitutes the original matter, as distinct from the notes or other critical appendages. In first quot. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written text > [noun] > original in relation to notes or other texts
textc1369
original?a1425
society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > text
textc1369
intext1648
society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > parts of a written composition > [noun] > body of composition
textc1369
bodyc1405
contexta1530
contexturea1619
body text1892
body copy1926
c1369 G. Chaucer Bk. Duchesse 333 And alle the wallys with colouris fyne Were peynted, bothe text and glose.
1597 T. Morley Plaine & Easie Introd. Musicke Annot. sig. ¶ I haue..thought it best to set downe in Annotations, such thinges as in the text could not so commodiouslie be handled.
1778 T. Warton Hist Eng. Poetry (1840) II. xxiii. 304 (note) It is not immediately formed from the Troye-boke of Lydgate, as I have suggested in the text.
1857 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. (ed. 4) I. i. v. §8. 96 Consequently, as shewn in the text, her labourers suffered.
a. spec. The very words and sentences of Holy Scripture; hence, the Scriptures themselves; also, any single book of the Scriptures. Obsolete.
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society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > text > [noun]
text1393
the written word1533
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. iii. 129 Ich theologie þe tixt knowe.
c1400 (?c1380) Patience l. 37 For in þe tyxte, þere þyse two [Poverty and Patience] arn in teme layde.
c1420 J. Lydgate Assembly of Gods 1500 Fast by Doctryne, on that oon syde, As I remembre, sate Holy Texte.
1542–3 Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII c. 1 §10 It shalbe lawfull to everye noble man..to reade..any texte of the Byble..so the same be doone quietlie.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 233 To heare with reuerence, Your exposition on the holy text . View more context for this quotation
a1668 W. Davenant Poems (1672) 329 Since Holy Text bids Faith to comprehend.
b. A copy of the Scriptures, or of a book of the Scriptures; spec. a volume containing the Gospels. Obsolete exc. Historical. (See also textus n.)
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society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > text > [noun] > volume
texta1387
Bible1468
textbook1861
textus1874
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 371 Iesus Crist apperede to Patrik, and took hym a staf, and þe text of þe gospel þat beeþ in þe contray in þe erchebisshops ward.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 6800 Þe text of wangels fell in þe water.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) l. 4431 He bare a boke..Of gospelles..with perle and stanes preciouse Þat text richely semed arayde.
c1460 Oseney Regr. 174 Vppon the texte whee sware, both I and my wiffe.
1536 Reg. Riches in Antiq. Sarisb. (1771) 201 Textus Evangeliorum. A Text after John, gilt with gold and having precious Stones and the relicks of dyvers saints.
1849 D. Rock Church our Fathers I. iii. 297 The curious reader has only to look at that fine text, or book of the Gospels, bound in silver parcel-gilt, and jewelled.
1883 W. H. Rich-Jones Reg. St. Osmund I. 117 (note) The ‘Text’, also called ‘Evangelarium’, was a complete copy of the four gospels.
4.
a. A short passage from the Scriptures, esp. one quoted as authoritative, or illustrative of a point of belief or doctrine, as a motto, to point a moral, or esp. as the subject of an exposition or sermon.In early practice these texts or portions of the holy text were cited in Latin from the Vulgate, connecting this use with 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > text > [noun] > passage
writeOE
steadc1175
text1377
scripturec1384
parcela1398
verse1560
versicle1737
verset1861
society > faith > worship > preaching > [noun] > instance of > text of
theme1362
text1377
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > materials of topic > [noun] > of discourse > text indicating topic
text1579
lemma1616
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. iii. 339 Quod bonum est tenete, treuthe þat texte made!
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xiii. 125 Pieres þe ploughman..no tixte ne taketh to meyntene his cause, But dilige deum and domine, quis habitabit, &c.
1528 W. Tyndale That Fayth Mother of All Good Workes 45 b This texte is playner than that it neadeth to be expounded.
1579 W. Fulke Heskins Parl. Repealed in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 527 The Sixtieth Chapter treateth vpon this text of S. Paule to the Hebrues: We haue an altar, &c.
1657 P. Heylyn Ecclesia Restavrata (1661) I. ii. iv. 38 The Art of opening, or rather of undoing a Text of Scripture (as the phrase is now) was usurped by all.
1711 J. Addison Spectator No. 46. ¶6 A meer Sermon Popgun, repeating and discharging Texts, Proofs, and Applications.
1782 J. Priestley Hist. Corruptions Christianity II. viii. 125 The preacher..named and opened his text.
1894 J. T. Fowler in St. Adamnan Vita S. Columbae Pref. 10 A discourse for St. Columba's day on the text Exi de terra tua.
b. A short passage from some book or writer considered as authoritative; a received maxim or axiom; a proverb; an adage; in later use, esp. one used as a copybook heading. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > [noun]
saw9..
quideOE
yedOE
wordOE
wisdomc1175
bysawe?c1225
riotc1330
sentencec1380
textc1386
dict1432
diction1477
redec1480
say1486
adage1530
commonplace?1531
adagy1534
soothsay1549
maxima1564
apophthegm1570
speech1575
gnome1577
aphorisma1593
imprese1593
spoke1594
symbol1594
maxim1605
wording1606
impress1610
motto1615
dictum1616
impresa1622
dictate1625
effate1650
sentiment1780
great thought1821
brocarda1856
text-motto1880
sententia1917
c1386 G. Chaucer Manciple's Tale (Ellesm.) 131 But for I am a man not textueel I wol noght telle of textes neuer a deel.
c1405 (c1387–95) G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 177 He yaf noght of that text [v.rr. tixt, texte] a pulled hen That seith þt hunterys been none holy men.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. i. 21 What must be shalbe. Fr: Thats a certaine text . View more context for this quotation
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost iv. ii. 158 Societie (saith the text) is the happines of life. View more context for this quotation
1862 Sat. Rev. 8 Feb. 156 ‘Recreation is good for mind and body’, as the worn-out governess writes for a text at the top of her pupil's copy-book.
c. figurative. The theme or subject on which any one speaks; the starting-point of a discussion; a statement on which any one dilates.
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the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > topic, subject-matter > materials of topic > [noun] > of discourse
matterc1330
lessona1375
contenu1477
content1509
thema1531
commonplace1549
subject matter1598
text1608
clue1656
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear xvi. 36 No more, the text is foolish. View more context for this quotation
1707 E. Ward Wooden World Dissected 18 The grand Text they hold forth upon, is, the Behaviour of their Lieutenants.
1821 W. Scott Kenilworth I. xi. 284 Is it fit for a heretic horse-boy like thee, to handle such a text as the Catholic clergy?
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess Prol. 6 Then the maiden Aunt Took this fair day for text, and from it preach'd An universal culture for the crowd.
1870 J. B. Brown First Princ. Eccl. Truth 249 A fact is a text from another book, also of God's writing.
5. Short for text-hand n. Also attributive. See also church text n., germane adj. and n. text. chapel-text, an elaborated kind of church-text.
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society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > [noun] > large
text-hand1542
text1598
large hand1688
1598 W. Shakespeare Love's Labour's Lost v. ii. 42 Faire as a text B in a Coppie booke. View more context for this quotation
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie iv. v. 199 He beareth Gules, three Text Esses, Or.
1633 J. Ford Loves Sacrifice v. sig. K2v There shall be writ, in Text, Thy bastarding, the issues of a Prince.
1740 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. (ed. 3) Text,..sometimes..means a large Sort of Writing to put particular Words or Sentences in, that they may be the more easily distinguished.
1825 J. Wilson Noctes Ambrosianae xix, in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Mar. 371 Their names are baith down, in round text, in the deevil's doomsday-beuk.
1904 Daily Chron. 23 June 4/6 Burns wrote a fine, bold hand..as big as Cromwell's or Bismarck's—what is called in Scotland ‘half-text’.
6. The words of a song; = testo n.
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society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > opera > [noun] > libretto
testo1724
book1733
libretto1741
book of words1785
scena1788
wordbook1862
text1891
1891 in Cent. Dict.
Compounds
C1. General attributive. (See sense 5). See also textbook n., text-hand n., text-letter n., etc.
text-bill n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > advertising bill > types of
text-bill1610
benefit-bill1755
star bill1876
gag-bill1885
1610 Histrio-mastix v. 62 Capt. Sirrah, what set you up there? Bel. Text-bills for plays.
text-copy n.
ΚΠ
1775 J. Ash New Dict. Eng. Lang. Textcopy,..a copy in text hand.
text-critic n.
ΚΠ
1870 Magnusson tr. Asgrimsson Lilja Introd. 27 Of no aid to the text-critic of the present edition.
text-critical adj.
ΚΠ
1905 Expositor July 22 [The Syriac N.T.] is quite invaluable from a text-critical point of view.
text-criticism n.
ΚΠ
1908 Q. Rev. July 70 Some centuries later text-criticism arose.
text editing n.
ΚΠ
1972 H. S. Stone Introd. Computer Organization ix. 208 Another important application of the linked list is text editing.
text-figure n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1938 Brit. Birds 31 359 The book is illustrated..by good, if rather infrequent text figures and a coloured plate.
1963 T. G. E. Powell in Foster & Alcock Culture & Environment vi. 169 My thanks are also due to Miss Frances Lynch for preparing the text-figure drawings.
text-frequency n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1942 M. Joos in Language XVIII. 33 The Dewey count gives us a statistical picture of text frequencies; the Twaddell count of list frequencies.
1962 P. S. Ray in F. A. Rice Study of Role of Second Languages in Asia, Africa & Latin Amer. (Center for Applied Linguistics) 92 ‘Text frequency’ compares two lexical forms in their repetitions within a body of discourse.
text-monger n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1883 W. S. Lilly in Contemp. Rev. Feb. 228 He is speaking of textmongers.
text-mongering n. and adj.
ΚΠ
1884 W. S. Lilly Anc. Relig. & Mod. Thought 285 St. Augustine..is speaking of textmongering.
text-motto adj. and n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > saying, maxim, adage > [noun]
saw9..
quideOE
yedOE
wordOE
wisdomc1175
bysawe?c1225
riotc1330
sentencec1380
textc1386
dict1432
diction1477
redec1480
say1486
adage1530
commonplace?1531
adagy1534
soothsay1549
maxima1564
apophthegm1570
speech1575
gnome1577
aphorisma1593
imprese1593
spoke1594
symbol1594
maxim1605
wording1606
impress1610
motto1615
dictum1616
impresa1622
dictate1625
effate1650
sentiment1780
great thought1821
brocarda1856
text-motto1880
sententia1917
1880 J. L. Warren Guide Study Book-plates xi. 122 The text-motto occurring on Pickheimer's book-plate.
text-processing adj. and n.
ΚΠ
1968 Jrnl. Assoc. Computing Machinery 15 8 (heading) Computer evaluation of indexing and text processing.
1980 Lebende Sprachen XXV. 10/2 Other texts..can probably be dealt with more efficiently by an extended text-processing system, than by machine translation as such.
1983 G. Leech et al. in Trans. Philol. Soc. 28 We may..proceed now to consider the kinds of text-processing that can be performed, using a computer corpus as a database.
text processor adj.
ΚΠ
1970 Technical Disclosure Bull. 13 iv. 9 A flow chart for a text collection program which operates to collect lines of text for a text processor is described.
1980 Daily Tel. 23 Apr. 3 (advt.) If you have bought or are about to buy a small computer or text processor, you need Cave Tab to ensure you make the most of it.
text-quoter adj.
text-quoting adj.
ΚΠ
a1837 D. McNicoll Wks. 94 This text-quoting vagabond.
text-source n.
ΚΠ
1947 A. Einstein Music Romantic Era xvi. 265 Shakespeare..was no more novel as a text-source for Italian opera than was Sir Walter Scott..or Victor Hugo.
1978 Early Music 6 609/1 What is described as a ‘text source’, the 1545 King's Primer, is also used.
text tape n.
ΚΠ
1970 A. Cameron et al. Computers & Old Eng. Concordances 18 The first thing of course is the production of text tapes and the printing thereof.
text-transmission n.
ΚΠ
1908 Q. Rev. July 74 The common accidents of text-transmission.
text-verse n.
C2.
text-blindness n. word-blindness.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > impairment of mental powers > inability to understand written words
word blindness1878
text-blindness1909
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Text-blindness.
text-cut n. = text-picture n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > illustration of books > [noun] > an illustration > in text
text-engraving1894
text-cut1897
text-picture1905
1897 Westm. Gaz. 8 Mar. 2/1 The first number..contains two excellent plates and numerous text-cuts.
ˈtext-diˌvider n. a preacher who didactically ‘splits up’ his text.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > preacher > [noun] > dividing text
text-divider1670
1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 53 Not by every Bungler, and ordinary Text-Divider.
ˈtext-diˌviding n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > preacher > [noun] > dividing text > action of
text-dividing1670
1670 J. Eachard Grounds Contempt of Clergy 113 They have got..such a peculiar Method of Text-dividing.
text editor n. a machine that permits the user to alter text using a keyboard; also, a program or component for modifying text held in a computer or processor, in accordance with a user's instructions.
ΘΚΠ
society > computing and information technology > hardware > computer > [noun] > word processor or text editor
word processor1968
text editor1975
1975 Business Week 30 June 80 Vydec Corp...soon will add communications to its display text editor. Xerox Corp. will announce the same capability for its automatic typewriter.
1983 I. Flores Word Processing Handbk. vi. 170 If the last word entered does not fit on this line, then the text editor removes that word from the line and puts it at the left of the next line.
1983 Your Computer Sept. 21/1 The M100 runs a full Microsoft BASIC interpreter, appointment scheduler, address filer, text editor and communications utility.
text-engraving n. = text-picture n.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > illustration of books > [noun] > an illustration > in text
text-engraving1894
text-cut1897
text-picture1905
1894 Daily News 15 Nov. 6/2 Mr. Sheppard supplies a text engraving of mad Margaret Nicholson.
text-ink n. ink used for the text of a manuscript or book.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > writing materials > ink > [noun] > ink for book or manuscript text
text-ink1511
1511 in T. Wright & J. O. Halliwell Reliquiæ Antiquæ (1845) I. 318 To make texte ynke.
text linguist n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > other schools of linguistics > [noun] > text or discourse analysis > one who studies
text linguist1977
1977 Language 53 248 For generative text-linguists, this means that the grammar must actually generate (all and only) possible well-formed texts of the language.
text linguistics n. [German textlinguistik] (see quot. 19771).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > other schools of linguistics > [noun] > text or discourse analysis
discourse analysis1952
text linguistics1973
1973 W. O. Hendricks Ess. Semioling. & Verbal Art ii. 53 See Fries..for a discussion of the theme-rheme distinction in text linguistics.
1977 Language 53 247 The rapidly growing school of ‘text-linguistics’... The general belief shared by these scholars is that the ‘natural domain’ of linguistic theory consists of discourses, or texts, rather than sentences. However,..this belief is not what distinguishes text-linguistics from other discourse-oriented..trends in linguistics.
1977 Language 53 248 Text-linguistics differs from these approaches in its interpretation of the claim that texts are the natural domain of linguistics.
text paper n. a newspaper containing serious articles.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journal > newspaper > [noun] > serious or quality
the heavies1950
text paper1961
quality1970
1961 Guardian 30 Jan. 18/2 All possible steps will be taken to make the future of the ‘Daily Herald’ as a text paper more secure.
1977 Times 5 Sept. 12/6 Tabloid papers sell better than serious text papers.
text-picture n. an illustration occupying a space in the text of a book.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > illustration of books > [noun] > an illustration > in text
text-engraving1894
text-cut1897
text-picture1905
1905 Daily Chron. 7 July 3/3 It has nearly twenty full-page plates, and a great many text pictures.
text-title n. a half-title, at the beginning of the text of a book.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > matter of book > [noun] > title > short-title or half-title
bastard title1756
short-title1869
text-title1881
subtitle1883
1881 H. Bradshaw in Bibliographer Dec. 6/2 The text-title of Tindale's New Testament of 1534–5, as reproduced by Mr. Fry.
Draft additions 1993
Short for textbook n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > textbook or book of instructions > [noun]
handbookOE
doctrinalc1450
directory1543
school1545
instruction book1546
companion1621
body1647
tutor1665
self-instructor1700
tutorer1702
preceptorc1710
textbook1779
self-instructer1800
bench book1887
user guide1936
user manual1936
text1955
1881 B. F. Westcott & F. J. A. Hort New Test. in Orig. Greek II. Introd. i. 16 We agreed to commence..the formation of a manual text for our own use.]
1955 G. Bowen Wool Away! vi. 75 I trust that the experting as set out in this text will be a practical guide and help to all.
1978 J. Updike Coup (1979) iv. 134 Candy was hugging her mold-colored notebooks and big Ec text with its slick cover of smiling blue.
1989 Network (Imperial Coll.) 21 Sept. 6/1 He is the author of two standard texts on Herbivory and Plant Ecology.
Draft additions 1993
Linguistics. (A unit of) connected discourse whose function is communicative and which forms the object of analysis and description. Cf. text-frequency n. and adj. at Compounds 1, text linguistics n. at Compounds 2, below.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > other schools of linguistics > [noun] > text or discourse analysis > unit of text or discourse
text1935
discourse1951
stretch1961
1935 A. Gardiner in Atti del III Congresso Internazionale dei Linguisti 347 I wish to extend its meaning to anything which has been either written or spoken. When once this standpoint has been grasped, it is impossible to fail to see what de Saussure was aiming at in his distinction. Take any sentence, any bit of ‘text’.
1964 M. A. K. Halliday in Proc. 9th Internat. Congress of Linguists 302 It is part of the task of linguistics to describe texts; and all texts, including those, prose and verse, which fall within any definition of ‘literature’, are accessible to analysis by the existing methods of linguistics.
1973 P. Hartmann in Petöfi & Rieser Stud. Text Gram. p. x The linguistic construct ‘text’ denotes the structure and the manifestation of linguistic objects observed in verbal communication.
1979 A. Garcia-Berrio in J. S. Petöfi Text vs Sentence I. 24 The concept of Text is extremely useful to linguistic theory in general... It breaks the usual scheme of linguistic units seen as a mere additive progression and based on the lineal character of speech.
1983 G. Brown & G. Yule Discourse Anal. i. 9 The problems encountered with the notion of ‘text’ as the verbal record of a communicative act became a good deal more complex when we consider what is meant by spoken ‘text’.
Draft additions February 2005
An area of printed or written words on a page (as opposed to images or white space); (now also) data in the form of words or alphabetic characters, esp. as processed, stored, or displayed by electronic means.
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1859 Ld. Tennyson Vivien in Idylls of King 128 Every marge enclosing in the midst A square of text that looks a little blot.
1923 Yorks. Post 17 Dec. 6/8 A continuous alternation of pictures and those pieces of text that are, one believes, known as captions.
1963 IBM Jrnl. Res. & Devel. 7 337/2 If it is desired to translate the text with the aid of a microglossary, the text is preceded by a tag specifying the pertinent field.
1971 R. Brewer Approach to Print ii. 37 Regard the composition of text as a ‘pre-process procedure’.
2000 Big Issue 4 Sept. 45/2 At present we are learning to..produce the printed page by creating text boxes and importing text.
Draft additions July 2009
A non-textual subject regarded as open to analysis or interpretation using methods of literary criticism, semiotics, etc. Cf. read v. 7a.
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1970 H. Hammond in M. W. Fishwick & R. B. Browne Icons of Pop. Culture 68 A look in to the object as cultural text must also reflect the feedback influence on the object itself. What of America's effect on the car?
1972 C. Geertz in Dædalus Winter 27 The more profound corollary,..that cultural forms can be treated as texts, as imaginative works built out of social materials, has yet to be systematically exploited.
1978 R. T. Segers Eval. Literary Texts 22 Lotman's basic theory implies that art is a kind of secondary language and accordingly the work of art is a text in this language.
1984 Current Anthropol. 25 269/2 Roseberry..takes the Geertzian notion of culture-as-text to task, arguing that interpretive analysis is frequently unclear about who in the text is speaking to whom about what.
1993 Ann. Assoc. Amer. Geographers 83 12/1 Viewing all landscapes as ‘texts’ comes dangerously close to demanding the intervention of an ‘expert decoder’—the new cultural geographer.
2006 G. Delanty Handbk. Contemp. European Social Theory xx. 270 Postmodernism suffered from an over-emphasis on society as text which had to be simply deconstructed.
Draft additions September 2006
= text message n.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > call or message > types of
personal call1843
local call1882
ringback1895
long distance1902
private call1907
trunk-call1910
toll call1912
callback1914
overflow1924
picture message1929
alarm call1966
text message1977
text1990
1990 Syracuse (N.Y.) Herald-Jrnl. 12 Jan. a11/5 The newspaper telecomm system..works like a computer bulletin board system... You can send texts to our system, and you can even send messages to me.
1997 Cost of SMS Calls UK & Overseas? in uk.telecom (Usenet newsgroup) 10 Sept. Can anyone tell me how much it costs..to send an SMS text from the UK to a Vodafone whilst roaming on, say, the D2 network in Germany?
1998 G. Cantrell Out of Broom Closet? i. 13 After several nights of browsing the posted texts the messages began to make a lot of sense. I returned to those bulletin boards many times.
2005 A. Lasen in L. Hamill & A. Lasen Mobile World ii. 47 The British injury claims firm..announced to more than 2,000 of its workers that they were going to be sacked by sending texts to their company mobile phones.
Draft additions September 2007
textphone n. Telecommunications (originally and chiefly British) a device developed to perform the function of a telephone for the deaf or hard of hearing, having a keyboard and a small screen for typing and receiving messages.
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1989 Guardian (Nexis) 3 Nov. Text phones... Donated by British Telecom the phones contain keyboard and visual display units.
1994 Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) 26 Jan. c11/3 (advt.) For Text Phone service please call us.
2004 P. Bishop Setting up & running Complementary Health Pract. ii. 39 You wouldn't necessarily want to invest in a textphone, but a fax might mean that any clients who are hearing impaired could get in contact with you.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
textn.2
rare.
Texture, tissue.
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1854 S. T. Dobell Balder xxviii. 197 And if she were..caught of morning mist, or the unseen Material of an odour, her pure text Could seem no more remote from the corrupt And seething compound of our common flesh.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
textv.
Now rare.† 1. † 2.
a. transitive. To inscribe, write, or print in a text-hand or in capital or large letters. Also figurative. Obsolete.
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society > communication > writing > handwriting or style of > write in specific style [verb (transitive)] > in large letters
text1599
1599 T. Nashe Lenten Stuffe 9 A Chronographycal Latine table..in a faire text hand texting vnto vs, how in the Scepterdome of Edward the Confessor, the sands first began to growe into sight at a low water.
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing v. i. 179 Yea and text vnder-neath, here dwells Benedick the married man. View more context for this quotation
1607 T. Dekker Whore of Babylon sig. I4 Vowes haue I writ so deepe,..So texted them in characters capitall, I cannot race them.
1621 J. Fletcher et al. Trag. of Thierry & Theodoret ii. i. sig. D1 Condemne me, for A most malicions [sic] slanderer: nay, texde it Vpon my forehead.
1624 T. Heywood Γυναικεῖον vii. 315 That such as..past.. might read them as perfectly and distinctly, as if they had beene texted in Capitall Letters.
1631 T. Powell Tom of All Trades 1 The Scriveners at Temple-barre had no imployment, but..texting of Bills for letting of Chambers in Chancery-lane.
1639 J. Shirley Maides Revenge iii. sig. Ev Would..every Character [had] Beene tex'd with blood.
b. transitive. To write in a text-hand upon.
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1660 G. Tomlyn Brit. Patent 128 (1857) 1 A new..way to text and flourish velomes and parchments in blacke and white.
c. intransitive. To write in text-hand.
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1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Text, to write an engrossing hand or German text.
1884 [implied in: Law Times 29 Mar. 2/2 Wanted, a re-engagement as Engrossing and General Clerk..excellent writer and texter. (at texter n.)].
a. intransitive. To cite texts. Obsolete.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > use ornate language [verb (intransitive)] > quote texts
text1564
society > leisure > the arts > literature > literary and textual criticism > literary criticism > practise literary criticism [verb (intransitive)] > quote or cite
text1564
quotea1796
1564 W. Bullein Dialogue against Fever Pestilence f. 7v M...And how like you this texte? A. Texte how thei will texte, I will trust none of them all.
b. transitive. To cite a text at or against (a person). Obsolete.
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the mind > attention and judgement > testing > attestation, witness, evidence > documentary evidence > use written evidence [verb (transitive)] > against someone
text1615
1615 E. Hoby Curry-combe i. 11 When his wench told him that he kissed like a Clowter, he could text her with Labia Sacerdotis custodiunt sapientiam.
Draft additions March 2004
transitive. Telecommunications. To send (a text message) to a person, mobile phone, etc.; to send a text message to. Also intransitive: to communicate by sending text messages. Cf. text message v.
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1998 Should I or shouldn't I? in alt.cellular.gsm (Usenet Newsgroup) 14 Mar. We still keep in touch..‘texting’ each other jokes, quotes, stories, questions, etc.
2000 Guardian 3 June (Weekend Suppl.) 26/1 One private school in Berkshire has just instituted a fine system for anyone caught texting in teaching-time.
2001 Publican Newspaper 4 June 5/6 Customers will be invited to text a message to a number given on the banner if they want to take part.
2001 Leicester Mercury (Electronic ed.) 31 July I texted my mother and my friends when I got my results.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1911; most recently modified version published online June 2020).
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