What is "textus receptus"

n. The succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament which constituted the translation base for various early versions of the Bible in Western and Central Europe.

Textus Receptus ( Latin: "received text") is the name given to the succession of printed Greek texts of the New Testament which constituted the translation base for the original German Luther Bible, the translation of the New Testament into English by William Tyndale, the King James Version, the Spanish Reina-Valera translation and most other Reformation-era New Testament translations throughout Western and Central Europe. The series originated with the first printed Greek New Testament, published in 1516 – a work undertaken in Basel by the Dutch Catholic scholar and humanist Desiderius Erasmus. This family of manuscripts of the New Testament is the one that the Church has received and used without interruption since the antiquity. Manuscripts of this family represent that vast majority of the 5000 manuscripts that are currently in existence.