contextualization
Americannoun
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Explanation
Contextualization is the process of considering the specific situation in which something exists (or existed) as you try to understand it. Contextualization of French culture in the late 1800s would include Impressionism and the construction of the Eiffel Tower. Contextualization comes from context and its Latin root contextus, "a joining or weaving together." This process involves putting events within a wider context — in other words, weaving together all the factors that affected a person's actions or a historical occurrence. Understanding why your little sister had a tantrum at her birthday party requires contextualization: she missed her nap and was already cranky, and another kid beat her at pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.
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.
Although the exhibition situates a timeline of the Mughals within global historical reference points—e.g., their artistic golden age began decades before Jamestown was even founded in Virginia—it could have benefited from greater contextualization.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
The story is important on its own, but it did need some level of contextualization for the audience.
From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2023
The meaningful update includes a more poignant and broader contextualization of the tar pits.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
Some scholars who teach blackface traditions questioned the quickness of some to denounce the students, or to mock their insistence on contextualization as a demand for “trigger warnings.”
From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2021
Twitter announced its contextualization campaign on Sept. 1 and tasked a slew of writers all over the world to add a little bit of supplementary text to the day’s news.
From Slate ● Mar. 22, 2021
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.
