Etymograph

English

text

Text comes from Middle English text, from Old French texte, from Medieval Latin textus, from Latin textus, participle of texō ‘to weave’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*teksō1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtexō1‘to weave’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtextus1‘style or texture of a work’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500textus1‘text’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400texte1
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500text1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1607–21text1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English text
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1607–21, Phillip Massinger, Beaumont and Fletcher: “I wish / (Next to my part of Heav'n)…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*teksōWiktionary, English textreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtexōWiktionary, English text‘to weave’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtextusWiktionary, English text‘style or texture of a work’
  4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500textusWiktionary, English text‘text’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400texteWiktionary, English text
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500textWiktionary, English text
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1607–21textWiktionary, English text. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 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’

tectonic, thane, 9 more

through Medieval Latin texō ‘to weave’

tissue, 5 more

Today it means

noun A writing consisting of multiple glyphs, characters, symbols or sentences.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “text”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *teksō / text

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