texta

By trademark erosion from Texta, a registered trademark of Australian stationery company Jasco Pty Ltd. Presumably from text. Usage of the word began from the 1970s, when primary school children in Australia used the brand of felt-tip markers with bright, colourful packaging, prominently displaying the name "TEXTA".

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texta (plural textas)

1. (Australia) A coloured felt-tip pen, usually wide-tipped for use by children.
   • 2003, Mark Fox, Discovering Australian Animals, page 34:

     Here is what a wombat burrow may look like. Using coloured pencils or textas, colour in the wombat burrows.

   • 2008, Ghristopher Cyrill, “The Ganges and Its Tributaries”, in Alice Pung, editor, Growing Up Asian in Australia, page 40:

     He pencilled a map of India onto a piece of chipboard, and then went over the outline with a texta. He went over the texta outline with a razorblade and then, with a knife, he cut away the excess chipboard.

   • 2009, Colin McLaren, Infiltration: The True Story of the Man Who Cracked the Mafia, Melbourne University Press, page 53,

     Minute weighing scales sat on top of desks, glass syringe kits lay idle, mug shots were pinned here and there, some with a dart in the forehead, or ′caught′ written in texta.

• The Original Texta (Jasco website)

texta

1. inflection of textus:
   1. nominative/vocative feminine singular
   2. nominative/accusative/nominative neuter plural

textā

1. ablative feminine singular of textus

• texta in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)

texta (present textar, preterite textade, supine textat, imperative texta)

1. to write by hand in block letters

   Synonym: pränta

   • 2005, Stieg Larsson, Män som hatar kvinnor:

     Som alltid, textat med versaler.

     Same as always, written in block capitals.

2. to deliver text such that every word can be easily understood; to articulate

   Jag hör inte. Kan du texta?

   I can't hear what you're saying. Could you articulate?

3. to text (send a text message)
4. to subtitle (add subtitles to)

• texta in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• texta in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• texta in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)