Wordwyrt

pretext

/pˈɹiˌtekst/PREE-tekst
/pˈɹiˌtɛkst/PREE-tekst

Meaningwoven in front; a cover

Common meaning: a false reason

‘before’ + ‘to weave’ → pretext

Journey through time

  1. Latintexō, textum‘to weave’
  2. Old Frenchpretextesource
  3. Englishpretext‘a false reason’ · today

pre- also in: prefixprecedeprecisepredictpreface

text also in: texttextiletexturecontext

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin texō ‘to weave’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Lewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), entry texō, p. 1865 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

contexttexttextiletexture

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