text

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
text/tekst/

▶noun

• 1 a written or printed work regarded in terms of content rather than form.

  ■ the original words of an author or document.

  ■ Computing data corresponding to a body of writing.

• 2 the main body of a book or other piece of writing, as distinct from appendices, illustrations, etc.

• 3 a written work chosen as a subject of study.

  ■ a passage from the Bible or other religious work, especially as the subject of a sermon.

• 4 a text message.

• 5 (also text-hand) archaic fine, large handwriting, used especially for manuscripts.

▶verb send a text message to.

– derivatives
texter noun,
textless adjective.

– origin ME: from Old North. Fr. texte, from L. textus ‘tissue, literary style’ (in med. L., ‘Gospel’), from text-, texere ‘weave’.