(ĕdˈĭt)
transitive verb ed·it·ed,
ed·it·ing,
ed·its a. To prepare (written material) for publication or presentation, as by correcting, revising, or adapting.
b. To prepare an edition of for publication: edit a collection of short stories.
c. To modify or adapt so as to make suitable or acceptable: edited her remarks for presentation to a younger audience.
- To supervise the publication of (a newspaper or magazine, for example).
- To assemble the components of (a film or soundtrack, for example), as by cutting and splicing.
- To eliminate; delete: edited the best scene out.
noun An act or instance of editing: made several last-minute edits for reasons of space.
Phrasal Verbs: edit in To insert during the course of editing:
An additional scene was edited in before the show was aired. edit out To delete during the course of editing:
A controversial scene was edited out of the film.Word History: The word
edit is often cited as an example of back-formation. In other words,
edit is not the source of
editor, as
dive is of
diver, the expected derivational pattern; rather, the reverse is the case.
Edit in the sense “to prepare for publication,” first recorded in 1793, comes from
editor, first recorded in 1712 in the sense “one who edits.” There is more to the story, however.
Edit also comes partly from the French word
éditer, “to publish, edit,” first recorded in 1784. In the case of
edit, two processes, borrowing and back-formation, occurred either independently or together, perhaps one person originally taking
edit from French, another from
editor, and yet a third from both.
