editor

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈed.ɪ.tə/, US /ˈed.ɪ.tɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin ēditor (“one who puts forth; a producer of games; a publisher”),^[2][3][4] an agent noun from ēditus, the past participle of ēdere (“to bring forth, produce, publish”),^[2][5] It is related to edition and edit.^[5][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The publisher of a book: 1649 in the OED and Merriam-Webster,^[6][7] the 1640s in Etymonline,^[2] a sense found only in the mid-17th century.^[8]

Semantic evolution

A person who prepares someone else's writing for publication is from 1712,^[2][6] and the person who runs a newspaper or periodical from 1803.^[2][6] The editor of a section of a newspaper, such as the financial news, is from 1843,^[6] and the literary manager of a publishing house from 1915.^[6] The exhibitor of Roman public games, translating Latin editor ludorum, is from 1880.^[6] One who cuts and edits a film is from 1917,^[6] and in computing a program for altering text or data from 1959.^[6]

Timeline

• 1649 – a publisher.^[6][7]
• 1712 – one who prepares a text.^[2][6]
• 1803 – a newspaper editor.^[2][6]
• 1917 – a film editor.^[6]
• 1959 – a computer program.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A person who edits, especially as a job, preparing others' writing for publication.
2. A person in charge of a newspaper, magazine or section of one.
3. A person who writes editorials.
4. A person or device that edits film.
5. A computer program for editing text or data.

Word family

• editorship
• coeditor
• editress
• subeditor
• edit
• editorial
• copy editor

Related words

• edition

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 d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press