context
n.-
1 surrounding circumstances (n.) A2 Elementarythe situation or background information that helps you understand why something happened.
the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, or story.
ExampleTo understand the politician's decision, you need to look at the historical context of the country.
ExampleWithout the proper historical context, it is difficult for modern readers to grasp the social significance of the protagonist's rebellion.
UsageOften used with the prepositions 'in' or 'within'.
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2 surrounding text (n.) B1 Intermediate Academic Linguisticsthe words that come before and after a specific word and help explain its meaning.
the parts of a written or spoken statement that precede or follow a specific word or passage, usually influencing its meaning or effect.
ExampleIf you don't know what a word means, try to guess it from the context of the sentence.
ExampleThe critic was accused of quoting the author out of context to make the book seem more controversial than it actually was.
UsageCommonly appears in the phrase 'out of context' to describe a quote used unfairly.
PitfallHe took my words out of the context.He took my words out of context.In the common idiom 'out of context', we do not use the definite article 'the'.
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3 archaeological site (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Archaeologythe exact place and surroundings where an old object is found by experts.
the relationship that an artifact has to all the other artifacts and features found in the same archaeological site.
ExampleWhen the vase was moved, it lost its context, making it harder for experts to date it.
ExampleThe primary context of the burial site remained undisturbed, allowing researchers to map the precise placement of the ritual offerings.
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4 computing/programming (n.) C1 Advanced Technical Computingthe data or settings a computer needs to finish a specific task or switch between jobs.
the minimal set of data used by a task that must be saved to allow a task interruption and a continuation from the same point.
ExampleThe application stores the user's context so they can continue where they left off.
ExampleFrequent context switching between threads can significantly degrade the performance of the operating system due to the overhead involved.
From Latin context(us).