context

noun con·text \ ˈkän-ˌtekst \

|Updated on: 13 Aug 2018

Examples: context in a Sentence

Editor's Note: context, in Context

Definition of context

1 : the parts of a discourse that surround a word or passage and can throw light on its meaning

2 : the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs : environment, setting

the historical context of the war

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contextless

play \ˈkän-ˌtekst-ləs\ adjective

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contextual

play \kän-ˈteks-chə-wəl, kən-, -chəl, -chü-əl\ adjective

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contextually

adverb

See context defined for English-language learners

See context defined for kids

Examples of context in a Sentence

… it was Dickens who first used the word 'detective' in a literary context … —John Mullan, How Novels Work, 2006
Entrepreneurship and civil freedoms depend on a context of civil order, predictability, and individual security. —Susan L. Woodward, Balkan Tragedy, 1995
… the old building, its original acre, inside its high outer wall, was immune to change, out of context and out of time. —Harriet Doerr, The Tiger in the Grass, 1995
We need to look at the event within the larger context of world history.
The book puts these events in their proper historical and social contexts.
We need to consider these events in context.

Recent Examples of context from the Web

In the context of federal spending on health care, that is nothing.

— colby itkowitz, Washington Post, "The Health 202: 'ACA' removed from swaths of Medicaid.gov website, watchdog reports," 12 July 2018
This is a welcome and long-overdue development, one that raises the question of whether the agency will take steps to allow companies to provide truthful off-label information to physicians and patients in other contexts.

— john osborn, STAT, "FDA allows off-label health care economic discussions. Is there more to come?," 29 June 2018
When asked whether her pavilion celebrates Mexican architecture, Escobedo is clear that context matters but only to a certain point.

— giovanna dunmall, Curbed, "Inside the 2018 Serpentine Pavilion 2018 designed by Frida Escobedo," 15 June 2018
Mashup self-portraits by Tim Hawkinson have likewise been exhibited before at the gallery and in this context take on a new toxicity: historical, literary and biological.

— charles desmarais, SFChronicle.com, "Summer exhibition at Hosfelt Gallery a monstrous affair," 6 July 2018
Yates said critics took Harris' comments out of context.

— jim morrill, charlotteobserver, "NC congressional candidate suggested woman's career can interfere with biblical role," 5 July 2018
This would get taken out of context, just like a Tony Parker quote that clearly was intended as encouragement.

— mike finger, San Antonio Express-News, "In Spurs’ saga, explanations remain elusive," 4 July 2018
While these robots are built for human interaction, if the robot does not have a proper understanding of the context a conversation can only go so far.

— david grossman, Popular Mechanics, "Robotic AI Helping Autistic Kids Read Emotions," 29 June 2018
In this context, a study just published in Psychological Science, by Adelle Yang at the National University of Singapore and Oleg Urminsky at the University of Chicago, looks illuminating.

— The Economist, "A paradox at the heart of gift-giving," 28 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'context.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

context, in Context

In its earliest uses (documented in the 15th century), context meant "the weaving together of words in language." This sense, now obsolete, developed logically from the word's source in Latin, contexere "to weave or join together." Context now most commonly refers to the environment or setting in which something (whether words or events) exists. When we say that something is contextualized, we mean that it is placed in an appropriate setting, one in which it may be properly considered.

Origin and Etymology of context

Middle English, weaving together of words, from Latin contextus connection of words, coherence, from contexere to weave together, from com- + texere to weave — more at technical

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: circa 1568

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

context Synonyms

Synonyms

ambient, atmosphere, climate, clime, environment, environs, medium, milieu, setting, surround, surroundings, terrain;

Related Words

location, place, position, space;

backdrop, background;

element;

situation, status;

geography, habitat;

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

CONTEXT Defined for English Language Learners

context

noun

Definition of context for English Language Learners

: the words that are used with a certain word or phrase and that help to explain its meaning
: the situation in which something happens : the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens