English
text
Text comes from Middle English text, from Old French texte, from Medieval Latin textus, from Latin textus, participle of texō ‘to weave’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*teksōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtexō‘to weave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtextus‘style or texture of a work’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500textus‘text’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400texte
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500text
- Englishearliest quotation 1607–21text
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*teksōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtexō‘to weave’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtextus‘style or texture of a work’
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500textus‘text’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400texte
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500text
- Englishearliest quotation 1607–21text
Earliest quotation: 1607–21, Phillip Massinger, Beaumont and Fletcher: “I wish / (Next to my part of Heav'n)…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *teḱ- ‘to sire, beget’
through Medieval Latin texō ‘to weave’
Today it means
noun A writing consisting of multiple glyphs, characters, symbols or sentences.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *teksō / text