Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - text

 noun  Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French tiste, ~e, from Medieval Latin ~us, from Latin, ~ure, con~, from texere to weave — more at technical  Date: 14th century  1.  a.  (1) the original words and form of a written or printed work  (2) an edited or emended copy of an original work  b. a work containing such ~  2.  a. the main body of printed or written matter on a page  b. the principal part of a book exclusive of front and back matter  c. the printed score of a musical composition  3.  a.  (1) a verse or passage of Scripture chosen especially for the subject of a sermon or for authoritative support (as for a doctrine)  (2) a passage from an authoritative source providing an introduction or basis (as for a speech)  b. a source of information or authority  4. theme, topic  5.  a. the words of something (as a poem) set to music  b. matter chiefly in the form of words that is treated as data for processing by computerized equipment a ~-editing typewriter  6. a type suitable for printing running ~  7. ~book  8.  a. something (as a story or movie) considered as an object to be examined, explicated, or deconstructed  b. something likened to a ~ the surfaces of daily life are ~s to be explicated — Michiko Kakutani  9. frame of reference 2 updated to fit the women's lib ~ for consciousness raising — Judith Crist