means The plural of text message, or the act of sending short electronic messages via phone — the little written volleys that pile up in your pocket all day.

from From Latin 'textus,' meaning 'a thing woven,' from 'texere,' 'to weave' — the same loom that gives us 'textile' and 'texture.' Originally any written words were a 'text,' a fabric woven from language. The verb sense and the SMS plural are recent inventions: when phones gained tiny keyboards in the late 20th century, 'text' was clipped from 'text message' and pressed into service as a verb, so that we now 'text' each other threads we never finish weaving.