textual
adjective
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Before the invention of the printing press, books were produced by hand. When the text of a book is copied this way, textual errors can creep in, and a text that's been copied again and again can contain many such errors. By comparing different copies of a work, textual critics try to figure out where the copyists went wrong and restore the text to its original form so that modern readers can again enjoy the correct versions of ancient texts. When a class performs textual analysis of a poem, however, they are looking closely at its individual words and phrases in an effort to determine the poem's meanings.
Examples of textual in a Sentence
Literary Hub, 21 May 2026
That adds a whole extra-textual layer to the story, because in Visitation, Einstein’s house is a home built by Eidinger’s Nazi architect.
—Leslie Felperin, HollywoodReporter, 16 May 2026
This was a period when literary critics had real power and were devising new ways of reading—focused on the fluidity of language and the instability of textual meaning—that reshaped the humanities and social sciences.
—Charlie Tyson, The Atlantic, 27 Apr. 2026
New media encompasses the rapid and continual evolutions in media that have created new textual experiences, new ways of representing the world, and new relationships between subjects and media technologies.
—Kirstin Pellizzaro, Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Textual.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/textual. Accessed 22 May. 2026.
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textual
adjective
