context

English Online Dictionary. What means context‎? What does context mean?

English

Etymology

From Latin context(us).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒn.tɛkst/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑn.tɛkst/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔn.tekst/

Noun

context (countable and uncountable, plural contexts)

2. The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence.
4. (linguistics) The text in which a word or passage appears and which helps ascertain its meaning.

   Coordinate terms: subtext, paratext, peritext, epitext

6. (archaeology) The surroundings and environment in which an artifact is found and which may provide important clues about the artifact's function and/or cultural meaning.
8. (mycology) The trama or flesh of a mushroom.
10. (logic) For a formula: a finite set of variables, which set contains all the free variables in the given formula.
12. (programming) The data (register contents, program counter value, etc.) needed to switch to another thread of execution.

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:context.

Antonyms

• isolation

Hyponyms

• subcontext

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• (surroundings in situ, in archaeology): provenance, provenience; unprovenanced, unprovenienced

Verb

context (third-person singular simple present contexts, present participle contexting, simple past and past participle contexted)

1. (obsolete) To knit or bind together; to unite closely.

Adjective

context (comparative more context, superlative most context)

1. (obsolete) Knit or woven together; close; firm.
   • 1541?, Robert Copland (translator?), Guydon's Questionary Chirurgical, translation of 1533, Guy de Chauliac, La questionaire des cirugiens at barbiers

     The skynne is composed & context and woven with thredes and vaynes.

   • 1711-12, William Derham, Physico-theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation (3rd edition, corrected, 1714, page 110)

     the coats, without, are context and callous, firm and strong.

References

• “context”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “context”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin contextus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [kunˈtekst]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [konˈtekst]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [konˈtɛkst]

Noun

context m (plural contexts or contextos)

1. context

Related terms

• contextual

Further reading

• “context” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
• “context”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “context”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French contexte or Latin contextus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔn.tɛkst/
• Hyphenation: con‧text

Noun

context m (plural contexten)

1. context

Derived terms

• contextgevoelig
• contextueel

Descendants

• Afrikaans: konteks
• → Indonesian: konteks

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French contexte.

Noun

context n (plural contexte)

1. context

Declension