Etymologically
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rewrite

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 31 October 2026 at 15:27. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈɹiː.ɹaɪt/, /ɹiːˈɹaɪt/[1]
  • US: /ˈɹi.ɹaɪt/, /ɹiˈɹaɪt/[1]

Etymology

It is formed from English re- + write.[2][3][4][5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

To write back, to reply in writing: 1567, in Drant's translation of Horace's epistles, a sense found only in the mid-16th century.[2][6][4][3]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, to write something again, especially in a different form, is recorded from 1603 in the revised OED,[2] while Etymonline dates it by 1730 and the Shorter Oxford to the mid-18th century.[3][6] In the 20th century newspapers made it a trade word: the noun, a rewritten text or the act of rewriting, is found from 1901,[2][4] and a person or department that rewrites reporters' stories from 1918;[2] Etymonline dates the rewrite man to 1901 and the noun to 1926.[3] Sports writers' rewrite the record books dates from 1927.[2] In linguistics Chomsky used the verb in 1955 for writing a phrase structure in an expanded form, whence rewrite rule (1960),[2] and in computing it has meant writing data to a storage medium again since 1983.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 1567 – to write in reply (obsolete).[2][4]
  • 1603 – to write again, especially in a different form.[2]
  • 1901 – noun, a rewritten text; the act of rewriting.[2][4]
  • 1918 – noun, a rewrite person or department at a newspaper.[2]
  • 1927 – rewrite the record books.[2]
  • 1955 – in linguistics, to rewrite a phrase structure.[2]
  • 1983 – in computing, to write data again.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To write something again, especially changing its words or form; to revise: He rewrote the ending three times.[7][4][2]
  2. In journalism, to put material sent in by reporters into a form fit for publication, or to adapt published material for another publication.[4][2]
  3. In computing, to write data to a storage medium again, or to restore data erased while being read.[7][2]
  4. (obsolete) To write in reply.[2][4][6]

Noun

  1. Something rewritten, such as a revised article or draft; the act of rewriting: The script needs a complete rewrite.[7][4][2]
  2. (chiefly US) A person or department at a newspaper that rewrites reporters' stories.[2]

Word family

  • rewriter
  • rewriteman

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins