Content is what something contains, or as an adjective, satisfied. Context is the surrounding circumstances or text that give something its meaning. The content of the report; content with the result; quoted out of context. Both begin con-; only the endings and the meanings differ.
The core difference
- content — noun: what is contained; the material in a book, website or programme. The contents page, online content, sugar content. Adjective: satisfied. Content to wait.
- context — noun: the setting — the words around a phrase, or the circumstances around an event — that shapes its meaning. In context, historical context, taken out of context.
The tell
Context ends in text, and it is the text around the text. Content ends in tent and belongs with contain and container — it is what is held inside. Stress separates the two senses of content: CON-tent for the stuff inside, con-TENT for satisfied.
In use
- content — The content of the report was leaked. She seemed content to wait.
- context — Read the quote in context. The historical context matters here.
Common slips
- quoted out of content → quoted out of context
- the context of the box → the contents of the box
Context has the text around it; content is what is contained.
Where the words come from
Content is from Latin contentus, past participle of continere "to hold together, contain" — and a contained person is a satisfied one, which is how the adjective arose. Context is from Latin contextus, "woven together", from texere "to weave", the root of textile and text alike.
