hypertext

Definition

Electronic document text that is connected (hyperlinked) to the other chunks of text (or graphical elements) to which the reader or user is transferred by a mouse click. It is usually differentiated from the normal text by a different color, by underlining, or by both. The concept of hypertext is based on the idea that words or images in an electronic document (as seen on the computer monitor) do not have to behave linearly (where one idea follows another in a straight line sequence) like text on paper. Hypertext is non-liner: the reader can jump from anywhere to anywhere while pursuing a chain of thought. The term was coined in 1969 by the US computer visionary Theodore Helm Nelson (1937-).