Could you define context in communication?

Context is the circumstances surrounding a message. The
circumstances might include the setting, the value positions of the people, and
appropriateness of a message. This means considering your audience, the forum under
which you are speaking, the era, and accepted norms. For a Satanist to preach at a
Christian church would be out of context.

Furthermore, you
wouldn't invite someone to go out to a bar with you during a conference call with
several superiors in the business world that you just met in the middle of tense
discussion over closing on a large contract. First, you are the youngster in the crowd.
Second, that's off topic. Lastly, it would be inappropriate because there is a job that
everyone is working to achieve at the moment and you shouldn't waste
time.

Those features surrounding a piece of communication
are context.

Now, let's say you mean context in terms of
words that surround a specific phrase or word. These exterior words that add meaning or
help influence meaning are the context. Often when a word is unknown, or a message is
difficult to understand, you can use context to help discern what the word or message
means.

For example, read this next sentence. The
pestilential stench of the basement told the story of animals who had been trapped in
there for months, feces and urine permeated the air creating an aroma that evoked a
gag-reflex for all who entered. The words pestilential and permeated might be difficult
to understand. Pestilential could be many things, it actually means disease-causing. But
anyone who takes the context cluse of feces and urine smells could at least get close to
the definition with words like gross or disgusting. Permeated means to have gone through
and soaked. You should at least get the idea that it filled the air, once again, you get
at least close to an understanding by looking at what is
around.

 Context is very important. If you are a speaker
and don't understand your audience, your message will not come across with widespread
reception. If you are a recipient of a message and you cannot figure out a message
because your vocabulary is limited, you miss out on the entire meaning of a
message.