textual
- 01 C1 Advanced
relating to the written words in a book, document, or piece of writing.
of or pertaining to the written text of a document or literary work, as opposed to its themes, context, or oral delivery.
Simple“The lawyer looked for textual evidence in the contract to support his case.”
In context“The professor provided a detailed textual analysis of the poem, focusing on the specific word choices rather than the historical background.”
UsageUsually placed before the noun it modifies.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
relating to sending messages on a phone.
pertaining to digital text messaging, often used in modern social or legal contexts regarding communication via mobile devices.
Simple“They have a very textual relationship because they mostly talk through phone apps.”
In context“The investigation uncovered a long history of textual harassment between the two employees over several months.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is often used as a play on words with 'sexual' in modern slang, though it is also used seriously in legal discussions about phone records.
“For example, machine learning models can learn artistic characteristics from collections data to generate automated textual descriptions.”
“The system was designed to identify subtle textual "fingerprints" that repeatedly appear in known paper mill products.”
From Middle English textewell, textueel, textuel, textuele, tixtuel (“learned in texts, bookish”), possibly from Latin textuālis; also compare Middle French textuele; or perhaps a coinage by Chaucer from Latin textus and Middle English -el. English spelling conformed to Latin from late 15c. By surface analysis, text + -ual.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.