context
Americannoun
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the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect.
You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.
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the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.
- Synonyms:
- climate, milieu, background
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Mycology. the fleshy fibrous body of the pileus in mushrooms.
noun
-
the parts of a piece of writing, speech, etc, that precede and follow a word or passage and contribute to its full meaning
it is unfair to quote out of context
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the conditions and circumstances that are relevant to an event, fact, etc
Usage
What is 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.”
Other Word Forms
- contextless adjective
Etymology
Origin of context
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin contextus “a joining together, scheme, structure,” past participle of contexere “to join by weaving,” equivalent to con- con- + texere “to plait, weave”; text
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In that political context, the prime minister has made three big calls, all of them on display at today's press conference.
From BBC
“That really depends heavily on the context in which the shock occurs.”
By combining genomic data with fossil evidence, the researchers reconstructed both the timeline and environmental context of squid and cuttlefish evolution.
From Science Daily
It said work to expand the screening programme "is ongoing but must be viewed within the context of wider financial and capacity challenges within the supporting services".
From BBC
Robyn waits long enough between albums—anywhere from five to eight years is typical—that each lands in an entirely new cultural context.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
