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Original · left

Context (circumstances)

The circumstances that form the setting for an event or statement.

First in use: the 1500s
Duplicate · right

Context window

The span of tokens a language model can attend to at once.

First in use: c. 2018

Context / Context (circumstances) / Context window

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Canonical todayMeasuring…
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Duplicate share · 12 mo—
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Colour keyGrey · original meaningGreen · duplicate meaningAmber · contested (40–60%)How colours work

Background circumstances vs. 200K tokens.

Which meaning of Context is the original, and which one is the duplicate riding on its name? Context (circumstances) came first (the 1500s). Context window arrived in 2018. The data below shows which one owns the word now.

Wikipedia pageviews since 2015

Context (circumstances)Context window
English Wikipedia pageviews since July 2015 load here.

Duplicate's share of attention

Green line = duplicate's % · above 60 it owns the word · below 40 the original does

Share-of-attention line loads here.

The case for each meaning

Sourced definitions, usage stats and quotes

Original · the 1500s

Context (circumstances)

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12-mo pageviews—
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Duplicate · c. 2018

Context window

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More duplicated terms

AI & machine learning