context
n. C / Un. the situation, events, or information related to something that helps you understand it better. When you take words out of their original sentence, they lose this background meaning.
n. the circumstances, background, or setting that form the environment of an event, statement, or idea, enabling it to be fully understood. In linguistics, it designates the text or speech immediately surrounding a word or passage that clarifies its meaning.
You need to understand the historical context of the book.
The politician claimed her comments were taken out of context and meant something completely different in the original interview.
To fully appreciate the archaeological findings, researchers must analyze the physical context in which the artifacts were buried, including soil composition and nearby structures.
From Latin context(us).
Frequently appears in the prepositional phrases 'in the context of' or 'out of context'.