edit

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈed.ɪt/^[1]

Etymology

It is partly a back-formation from editor, and partly borrowed from French éditer (“to publish, edit”),^[2][3][4][5] itself formed on édition (see edition),^[4][5] and perhaps also from Latin ēditus, the past participle of ēdere (“to bring forth, produce, publish”),^[6][5] from ē- (“out”) and the combining form of dare (“to give, put”).^[6][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To publish a literary work: 1791,^[6][7][5] a sense now obsolete.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

To prepare a work for publication, or to act as the editor of a newspaper or periodical, is from 1793, probably formed from editor.^[6][5][7] To make revisions to a manuscript is from 1885.^[5] To prepare a film for the cinema or recordings for broadcasting by cutting and rearranging is from 1917.^[7] The noun, an act or spell of editing, especially of a recording, is from 1960 in the OED and by 1960 in Etymonline.^[7][5] The AHD cites edit as a standard example of back-formation: editor did not come from edit, as diver came from dive, but the reverse.^[8] Editor meant a publisher in 1649,^[6] and edition is older still, probably before 1425.^[6]

Timeline

• 1649 – editor, a publisher.^[6]
• 1791 – to publish.^[6][7]
• 1793 – to prepare for publication.^[6]
• 1885 – to revise a manuscript.^[5]
• 1917 – to edit film.^[7]
• 1960 – the noun, an edit.^[7][5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To prepare written material for publication by correcting, revising or adapting it.
2. To be in charge of a newspaper, magazine or other publication.
3. To prepare film, tape or recordings by selecting, cutting and arranging material.
4. To change or correct data or text, as on a computer.
5. (edit out) To remove in editing.

Noun

1. An act or instance of editing.

Word family

• editable
• coedit
• misedit
• overedit
• preedit
• edition
• editor
• editorial

Related words

• date
• donation

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin