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Origin and history of *teks-

*teks-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to weave," also "to fabricate," especially with an ax, also "to make wicker or wattle fabric for (mud-covered) house walls."

It might form all or part of: architect; context; dachshund; polytechnic; pretext; subtle; technical; techno-; technology; tectonic; tete; text; textile; tiller (n.1) "bar to turn the rudder of a boat;" tissue; toil (n.2) "net, snare."

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit taksati "he fashions, constructs," taksan "carpenter;" Avestan taša "ax, hatchet," thwaxš- "be busy;" Old Persian taxš- "be active;" Latin texere "to weave, fabricate," tela "web, net, warp of a fabric;" Greek tekton "carpenter," tekhnē "art;" Old Church Slavonic tesla "ax, hatchet;" Lithuanian tašau, tašyti "to carve;" Old Irish tal "cooper's ax;" Old High German dahs, German Dachs "badger," literally "builder;" Hittite taksh- "to join, unite, build."

Entries linking to *teks-

"person skilled in the art of building, one who plans and designs buildings and supervises their construction," 1560s, from French architecte, from Latin architectus, from Greek arkhitekton "master builder, director of works," from arkhi- "chief" (see archon) + tekton "builder, carpenter" (from PIE root *teks- "to weave," also "to fabricate").

Old English used heahcræftiga "high-crafter" as a loan-translation of Latin architectus. Middle English had architectour "superintendent." Extended sense of "one who plans or contrives" anything is from 1580s.

early 15c., "a composition, a chronicle, the entire text of a writing," from Latin contextus "a joining together," originally past participle of contexere "to weave together," from assimilated form of com "with, together" (see con-) + texere "to weave, to make" (from PIE root *teks- "to weave," also "to fabricate").

Meaning "the parts of a writing or discourse which precede or follow, and are directly connected with, some other part referred to or quoted" is from 1560s.

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