Textured

How to spell textured

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce textured

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does textured mean?

1. adjectiveHaving a distinctive surface feel or visible pattern rather than being smooth or plain.
2. verbGave a surface a particular feel or pattern; the past tense of texture.

Textured in a sentence

• adjective

  The bathroom walls had a heavily textured finish that hid small cracks.

• verb

  The decorator textured the ceiling before applying the paint.

• adjective

  She chose a textured wallpaper to add warmth to the hallway.

• verb

  The artist textured the canvas with thick, deliberate brushstrokes.

Where does textured come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin verb texere, which literally meant 'to weave', and to its derived noun textura, 'a weaving' or 'the way threads are woven together'. English took 'texture' from this Latin source by way of French in the late 1400s, originally describing the structure of woven cloth before the sense broadened to mean the feel or visible quality of any surface. Adding the suffix -ed gave 'textured', meaning given a particular surface feel or pattern. The same texere root quietly weaves through a surprising family of English words, including 'text' (something woven from words), 'textile', 'context', and even 'subtle', and that shared weaving origin is a handy reminder that the word keeps its 't-e-x' opening rather than any 'tecks' spelling.

How the word is built

• text- (from Latin texere: to weave)
• -ure (noun-forming suffix: result of weaving)
• -ed (adjective/past-tense suffix)