Having to do with or based on a text.

Before the invention of the printing press, books were produced by hand. When the *text* of a book is copied this way, textual errors can creep in, and a text that's been copied again and again can contain many such errors. By comparing different copies of a work, textual critics try to figure out where the copyists went wrong and restore the text to its original form so that modern readers can again enjoy the correct versions of ancient texts. When a class performs textual analysis of a poem, however, they are looking closely at its individual words and phrases in an effort to determine the poem's meanings.

(1) The surrounding spoken or written material in which a word or remark occurs. (2) The conditions or circumstances in which an event occurs; environment or setting.

Context reveals meaning. The context of an unfamiliar word can give us *contextual* clues to help us determine what the word means. Taking a remark out of context can change its meaning entirely. Likewise, people's actions sometimes have to be understood as having occurred in a particular context. The behavior of historical figures should be seen in the context of their time, when standards may have been very different from our own.

A database format in which information related to that on a display screen can be accessed directly from the screen (as by a mouse click). Since *hyper-* generally means “above, beyond” (see HYPER), hypertext is something that's gone beyond the limitations of ordinary text. Thus, unlike the text in a book, hypertext permits you, by clicking with a mouse, to immediately access text in one of millions of different electronic sources. Hypertext is now so familiar that most computer users may not even know the word, which was coined by Ted Nelson back in the early 1960s. It took a few more years for hypertext to actually be created, by Douglas Engelbart, and then quite a few more years before the introduction of the World Wide Web in 1991.

I'ssb.tekstt

The underlying meaning of a spoken or written passage. A literary text often has more than one meaning: the literal meaning of the words on the page, and their hidden meaning, what exists “between the lines”—the subtext. Arthur Miller's play *The Crucible,* for example, is about the Salem witchcraft trials of the 17th century, but its subtext is the comparison of those trials with the “witch hunts” of the 1950s, when many people were unfairly accused of being communists. Even a social conversation between a man and a woman may have a subtext, but you may have to listen very closely to figure out what it is. Don't confuse *subtext* with *subplot*, a less important plot that moves along in parallel with the main plot.

rppa.-kkatt

To calm the anger or bitterness of someone. Politicians are constantly having to placate angry voters. Diplomats frequently need to placate a country's allies or possible enemies. Parents are always placating kids who think they've been unfairly denied something. And lovers and spouses are some of the champion placaters. It's no secret that people with the best social skills are often the best at placating other people— and that they themselves may be the ones who benefit the most by it.

A harmless substance given to a patient in place of genuine medication, either for experimental purposes or to soothe the patient. Doctors doing research on new treatments for disease often give one group a placebo while a second group takes the new medication. Since those in the placebo group usually believe they're getting the real thing, their own hopeful attitude may bring about improvement in their condition. Thus, for the real drug to be considered effective, it must produce even better results than the placebo. Placebos have another use as well. A doctor who suspects that a patient's physical symptoms are psychologically produced may prescribe a placebo in the hope that mentally produced symptoms can also be mentally cured.

ppla.'side.tel

Serene freedom from interruption or disturbance; calmness. A placid lake has a smooth surface untouched by wind. A placid scene is one in which everything seems calm; it may even include a meadow with a few placid cows grazing on it. Someone with a *placid* personality has an inner peacefulness that isn't easily disturbed. As a personality trait, *placidity* is surely a lot better than some of the alternatives; however, the word sometimes describes people who are also a bit passive, like those contented cows.

him:pla.ke.ball

Not capable of being pleased, satisfied, or changed. *Implacable,* with its negative prefix *im-,* describes something or someone that can't be calmed or soothed or altered. A person who carries a grudge feels an implacable resentment—a resentment that can't be soothed. An implacable foe is one you can't negotiate with, perhaps one who's fueled by implacable hatred. And *implacable* sometimes describes things that only seem to be alive: an implacable storm is one that seems as if it will never let up, and an implacable fate is one that you can't outrun or hide from.