texture

[teks-cher]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR texture ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

the visual and especially tactile quality of a surface: rough texture.

the characteristic structure of the interwoven or intertwined threads, strands, or the like, that make up a textile fabric: coarse texture.

the characteristic physical structure given to a material, an object, etc., by the size, shape, arrangement, and proportions of its parts: soil of a sandy texture; a cake with a heavy texture.

an essential or characteristic quality; essence.

Fine Arts.

the characteristic visual and tactile quality of the surface of a work of art resulting from the way in which the materials are used.
the imitation of the tactile quality of represented objects.

the quality given, as to a musical or literary work, by the combination or interrelation of parts or elements.

a rough or grainy surface quality.

anything produced by weaving; woven fabric.

verb (used with object), tex·tured, tex·tur·ing.

to give texture or a particular texture to.

to make by or as if by weaving.

Origin of texture

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin textūra web, equivalent to text(us) (past participle of texere to weave) + -ūra -ure

Related formstex·tur·al, adjectivetex·tur·al·ly, adverbtex·ture·less, adjectivenon·tex·tur·al, adjectivenon·tex·tur·al·ly, adverbre·tex·ture, verb (used with object), re·tex·tured, re·tex·tur·ing.sem·i·tex·tur·al, adjectivesem·i·tex·tur·al·ly, adverbun·tex·tur·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for texture

balance, sense, fabric, nature, taste, pattern, makeup, character, surface, smoothness, consistency, touch, feeling, quality, composition, structure, being, essence, flexibility, fineness

Examples from the Web for texture

Contemporary Examples of texture

Not only did it look like and have the texture of crude oil, it tasted like it had been recently drilled.
Spirit Tripping With Colombian Shamans
Chris Allbritton
August 24, 2014
I inquire if I may touch it and find the texture soft and creamy.
How to Guest Star in Your Own Life
Annabelle Gurwitch
May 10, 2014
As more time passes, the coral that attach give the works entirely new shape, texture, and color.
Artist Jason deCaires Taylor’s Underwater Sculptures Are a Sight to Sea
Justin Jones
April 7, 2014
The texture was awkward and as I pulled it back and forth between my teeth, I just began to feel more and more nauseous.
We Were Gwyneth’s GOOP Guinea Pigs
Erin Cunningham, Olivia Nuzzi
March 30, 2014
Smith described the films as comparable to “Listerine mouth strips” in terms of texture.
Can Vaginal Gels And Female Condoms Prevent HIV?
Emily Shire
March 15, 2014

Historical Examples of texture

The robe of fine Milesian texture, was saffron-coloured, with a purple edge.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
Its texture is practically the same as that of the other cake.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 4
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
The texture of food is entitled to a score of 20 if it is perfect.
Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 5
Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences
The thickness and texture of the two layers are about the same.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise
M. E. Hard
The fact is there is some subtlety in the texture of these things.
The Memorabilia
Xenophon

British Dictionary definitions for texture

texture

noun

the surface of a material, esp as perceived by the sense of toucha wall with a rough texture

the structure, appearance, and feel of a woven fabric

the general structure and disposition of the constituent parts of somethingthe texture of a cake

the distinctive character or quality of somethingthe texture of life in America

the nature of a surface other than smoothwoollen cloth has plenty of texture

art the representation of the nature of a surfacethe painter caught the grainy texture of the sand

music considered as the interrelationship between the horizontally presented aspects of melody and rhythm and the vertically represented aspect of harmonya contrapuntal texture
the nature and quality of the instrumentation of a passage, piece, etc

verb

(tr) to give a distinctive usually rough or grainy texture to

Derived Formstextural, adjectivetexturally, adverbtextureless, adjective

Word Origin for texture

C15: from Latin textūra web, from texere to weave

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for texture

early 15c., "network, structure," from Middle French texture, from Latin textura "web, texture, structure," from stem of texere "to weave," from PIE root *tek- "to weave, to fabricate, to make; make wicker or wattle framework" (cf. Sanskrit taksati "he fashions, constructs," taksan "carpenter;" Avestan taša "ax, hatchet," thwaxš- "be busy;" Old Persian taxš- "be active;" Greek tekton "carpenter," tekhne "art;" Old Church Slavonic tesla "ax, hatchet;" Lithuanian tasau "to carve;" Old Irish tal "cooper's ax;" Old High German dahs, German Dachs "badger," literally "builder;" Hittite taksh- "to join, unite, build"). Meaning "structural character" is recorded from 1650s.

texture in Medicine

texture

[tĕks′chər]

n.

The composition or structure of a tissue or organ.

Related formstex′tured adj.

texture in Science

texture

[tĕks′chər]

The general physical appearance of a rock, especially with respect to the size, shape, size variability, and geometric arrangement of its mineral crystals (for igneous and metamorphic rocks) and of its constituent elements (for sedimentary rocks). A sandstone that forms as part of an eolian (wind-blown) deposit, for example, has a texture that reflects its small, rounded sand grains of uniform size, while a sandstone that formed as part of a fluvial deposit has a texture reflecting the presence of grains of varying sizes, with some more rounded than others.