Who invented the idea of context?

Question

I know it was coined in the 15th century, that's all I could find. It comes from the latin contextus meaning woven together, so perhaps it began in french first. But I want to know who originally invented the idea of context, what was the first example of writing we have of it? Who coined it? Does Martin Luther use this concept, (it might be in the form of Aufhebung)? Specifically I am looking for an example where someone directly states that the meaning of a word can be changed by its proximity to surrounding passages. Not necessarily as direct or unequivocal as a statement that "a word can only mean one thing at a time".

Added 3+ months ago:

Though I would also appreciate examples of early direct and unequivocal statements.

Answer

That is going to tie in very closely to figures of speech. The ancient Greeks were very big on figures of speech, carefully defining kinds and variations. For example the ellipsis is a word used twice but omitted in one place. "I weigh more than you" is an ellipsis because what it means is "I weigh more than you *weigh*." The second usage is omitted and implied by context. Here is a book that lists about 900 figures found in the bible. It is almost the only work in the subject for the last two thousand years:  
openlibrary.org/search?q=e.+w.+bullinger+figures+of+speech

You probably will have to do some searching on this. Your local librarian can show you some places to look and one of the best online sources is  www.word-detective.com/

Who invented the idea of context?

Answers (1)