text

1 of 2

noun

ˈtekst 

1

a(1)

: the original words and form of a written or printed work

(2)

: an edited or emended copy of an original work

b

: a work containing such text

2

a

: the main body of printed or written matter on a page

b

: the principal part of a book exclusive of front and back matter

c

: the printed score of a musical composition

3

a(1)

: a verse or passage of Scripture chosen especially for the subject of a sermon or for authoritative support (as for a doctrine)

(2)

: a passage from an authoritative source providing an introduction or basis (as for a speech)

b

: a source of information or authority

4

: theme, topic

5

a

: the words of something (such as a poem) set to music

b

: matter chiefly in the form of words or symbols that is treated as data for processing by computerized equipment

text-editing software

6

: a type suitable for printing running text

7

: textbook

8

a

: something (such as a story or movie) considered as an object to be examined, explicated, or deconstructed

b

: something likened to a text

the surfaces of daily life are texts to be explicated

—Michiko Kakutani

9

: frame of reference sense 2

updated to fit the women's lib text for consciousness raising

—Judith Crist

10

: text message

sent a text with the details

text

2 of 2

verb

texted ˈtek-stəd 

 nonstandard  ˈtekst

; texting

transitive verb

: to send a text message from one cell phone to another

intransitive verb

: to communicate by text messaging

texter noun

Synonyms

Noun

• handbook
• manual
• primer
• textbook

Examples of text in a Sentence

Noun

A good critic will refer back to the text often.

You can find the full text of his speech on his website.

the text of the Constitution

The book is mostly photographs—it has very little text.

At this point the website is only text. Graphics will be added later.

Students will read and discuss various literary texts.

Verb

I texted her a little while ago.

I texted a message to her.

She just texted me back.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The agency advises residents to enroll their contact information, including cell phone numbers, text and email addresses. —The Enquirer, 2 Apr. 2024

In October 2023, three major music publishers — Universal Music Publishing Group, Concord Music Group and ABKCO — sued Anthropic, a company that builds AI models by gathering information and text from the internet and training the models to produce output based on that internet sourcing. —Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Apr. 2024

Call 1-877-8-HOPE-NY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY); 1-800-327-5050(MA); 1-877-MYLIMIT (OR); 1-800-981-0023 (PR); 1-800-GAMBLER (all others). —USA TODAY, 2 Apr. 2024

Last year, YouTube partnered with UMG and Warner Music Group to launch an experimental AI feature called Dream Track, which turned text prompts into AI songs featuring the cloned vocals of artists like Demi Lovato, Charlie Puth and Charli XCX. —Ethan Millman, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024

Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. —Tom Sissom, arkansasonline.com, 2 Apr. 2024

Pretty much every day on the internet, tone gets lost in a swirl of digital text. —Camille Butera, WIRED, 1 Apr. 2024

The full text of the letter can be found at this link. —Todd Spangler, Variety, 21 Mar. 2024

Green bubbles With iMessage, Apple created an enhanced text messaging service that allows people to seamlessly communicate with one another, sending rich text, high-quality video and audio that uploads almost instantly – as long as it’s sent to another iPhone customer. —David Goldman, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024

Verb

Anyone with information on Brown's death or the apartment shooting police have not released a motive for should call police at 202-727-9099 or text a tip to 50411. —Pilar Arias, Fox News, 2 Apr. 2024

The exclusive offer is for Royal Perk members who text ECLIPSE to 251251. —Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 2 Apr. 2024

Indiana 211: Call 211 or text your zip code to 898-211 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. —Marina Johnson, The Indianapolis Star, 1 Apr. 2024

Burger King loyalty program members who text ECLIPSE to 251251 from April 8 through April 15 a buy-one-get-one-free Whopper deal on the burger chain's app or online. —Kate Gibson, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2024

How to get a free Burger King Whopper for Eclipse Day Royal Perks members must text the word ECLIPSE to 251251 to receive the special celestial deal. —Haadiza Ogwude, The Enquirer, 1 Apr. 2024

On Monday, April 8, members of Burger King's Royal Perks loyalty program can text the word ECLIPSE to 251251 to get a special buy-one-get-one-free Whopper offer redeemable April 8-15 in the BK app or on the Burger King website. —Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 27 Mar. 2024

Some retailers email or text you a coupon; others automatically load it on your loyalty account. —Laura Daily, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024

Call or text the lifeline at 988, or see the 988lifeline.org website, where chat is available. —Ray Chavez, The Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French tiste, texte, from Medieval Latin textus, from Latin, texture, context, from texere to weave — more at technical

First Known Use

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Verb

1998, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Phrases Containing text

• set book/text
• alt text
• text edition
• text messaging
• text message

Kids Definition

text

1 of 2 noun

ˈtekst

1

: the original words of a work of literature

2

a

: the main body of printed or written matter on a page

b

: the main part of a book

3

a

: a passage from the Bible chosen for the subject of a sermon

b

: a subject on which one writes or speaks

4

: matter handled with a computer that is chiefly in the form of words

5

: textbook

6

: text message

text

2 of 2 verb

1

: to send a text message from one cell phone to another

2

: to communicate by text messaging