Etymologically
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This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 16 October 2026 at 04:59. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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

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