context

The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence.

Adjective

  1. 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.
    • And though he could describe how such a string may be context, yet our Explication will have this advantage in point of probability above his, ... - 1662, Robert Boyle, New Experiments Physico-mechanical, Touching the...
    • the coats, without, are context and callous, firm and strong. - 1711-12, William Derham, Physico-theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God, from His Works of Creation (3rd edition, corrected,...

Origin

From Latin context(us).

Forms

more context most context

Noun

  1. The surroundings, circumstances, environment, background or settings that determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of an event or other occurrence.
    • —In what context did your attack on him happen? —We had a pretty tense relationship at the time, and when he insulted me I snapped.
    • The display and result must be placed in the context that was it was against a side that looked every bit their Fifa world ranking of 141 - but England completed the job with efficiency to record their biggest away win...

    Synonyms: frame framework background backdrop setting purlieus milieu

  2. The text in which a word or passage appears and which helps ascertain its meaning.
    • Without context, I can't tell if dish refers to a plate, or to the food served thereon.

    Coordinate Terms: subtext paratext peritext epitext

  3. 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.
  4. The trama or flesh of a mushroom.
  5. For a formula: a finite set of variables, which set contains all the free variables in the given formula.
  6. The data (register contents, program counter value, etc.) needed to switch to another thread of execution.

Forms

contexts

Antonyms

isolation

Hyponyms

subcontext

Related

provenance provenience unprovenanced unprovenienced

Derived

context-based learning context clue context collapse context compaction context-dependent context-free context-free grammar context-free language contextful contextless context menu contextomy context principle context-sensitive context-sensitive grammar high-context culture high context culture KWIC KWOC licensing context low-context culture low context culture macrocontext metacontext

Verb

  1. To knit or bind together; to unite closely.
    • The whole worlds frame, which is contexted onely by commerce and contracts. - 1638, Richard Younge, The Drunkard's Character: Or, a True Drunkard with Such Sinnes as Raigne in Him:
    • If the Subiect bee Historie, or contexted Fable, then I hold it better put in Prose, or Blanks: for ordinarie discourse neuer shewes so well in Meeter - 1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political:

Forms

contexts contexting contexted