the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect: You have misinterpreted my remark because you took it out of context.
2.
the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, etc.
3.
Mycology. the fleshy fibrous body of the pileus in mushrooms.
[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME < L contextus a joining together, scheme, structure, equiv. to contex(ere) to join by weaving (con-con-+ texere to plait, weave) + -tus suffix of v. action; cf. text]
The part of a text or statement that surrounds a particular word or passage and determines its meaning.
The circumstances in which an event occurs; a setting.
[Middle English, composition, from Latin contextus, from past participle of contexere, to join together : com-, com- + texere, to weave; see teks- in Indo-European roots.]
the parts directly before or after a word or phrase (written or spoken) which affect its meaning Example: This statement, taken out of its context, gives a wrong impression of the speaker's opinions.
context That which surrounds, and gives meaning to, something else. In a grammar it refers to the symbols before and after the symbol under consideration. If the syntax of a symbol is independent of its context, the grammar is said to be context-free.
Con*text"\, a. [L. contextus, p. p. of contexere to weave, to unite; con- + texere to weave. See Text.] Knit or woven together; close; firm. [Obs.] The coats, without, are context and callous. --Derham.
Con"text\, n. [L. contextus; cf. F. contexte .] The part or parts of something written or printed, as of Scripture, which precede or follow a text or quoted sentence, or are so intimately associated with it as to throw light upon its meaning. According to all the light that the contexts afford. --Sharp.
Con*text"\, v. t. To knit or bind together; to unite closely. [Obs.] --Feltham. The whole world's frame, which is contexted only by commerce and contracts. --R. Junius.