context

Context is a noun that means the parts of a statement that immediately precede or follow a specific section of the statement and help explain that section. 

The context of a specific text clarifies the meaning of that text, as in When the politician was asked to apologize for lying, he claimed that he had been quoted out of context and that he wasn’t actually lying. 

Context is also the conditions related to an event or situation that helps a person understand the event or situation. Conditions can include surroundings (where something took place), circumstances (what else was happening at the time), and background (such as events that happened before). For example, the context of a historical event, such as what else was happening at the time and how people understood their environment, can help us better understand the event itself.

One common expression that uses word context is context clues. Context clues are hints within a piece of writing that help us understand something unfamiliar, such as a word. For example, if you came across the word ethereal in a text, context clues could help you figure out that it means “delicate” and “beautiful.” 

Another common expression that includes the word context is out of context. This expression is used to explain that the reason people understood a statement or text incorrectly was because the statement was removed from its surrounding text, which distorted its meaning. 

Example: Understanding the historical and scientific contexts of the Romantic period are essential to understanding Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

The first records of the term context come from around the late 1300s to early 1400s. It comes from the Latin word contextus, meaning “a joining together, scheme, or structure.” 

What are some other forms of context?

• contextless (adjective)
• contextual (adjective)
• contexture (noun)
• contextomy (noun)

What are some synonyms for context?

• framework
• circumstances
• background
• situation
• text

What are some words that share a root or word element with context? 

• contextualize
• contextualism
• context of situation

What are some words that often get used in discussing context?

• clues
• cultural
• broader

The word context is a fairly common word used to refer to conditions or situations that give meaning to an event or behavior. It’s also commonly used to refer to the words surrounding a specific word or words in a text that give the text its meaning.

The best feeling in language learning is when you learn a new word, and then immediately see it again in an unrelated context. And you think, ‘I would have had no idea what this word meant if I had seen it last week, but now I do. I’m learning!’

— Fingtam Languages (@fingtamLangs) January 15, 2021

I think my favorite part about tweeting is that you don’t have to provide any context. You just say.

— C (@Frm79th) January 17, 2021

Please read this thread if you are considering tweeting offensive or otherwise problematic things you believe are self-evidently “irony” or “sarcasm”

It will not work. It will not land. It will not matter years later when people see those tweets “out of context.”

This is why.

— Catherynne M. Valente (@catvalente) January 5, 2021

True or False?

The context of a situation is what results from the situation.