edit

Definitions

e- (out) + dit (give) = to 'give out' — originally to publish, to put a work out into the world. Preparing a text for that release came to mean correcting and polishing it, which is the modern sense: to edit. Hence editor, edition, editorial all cluster around 'putting work out.'

Why It Means This

Notice the path from 'publish' to 'fix typos.' Latin edere meant simply to put a work out (e- 'out' + dare 'give'). But you can't put something out without first getting it ready — so the word slid from 'release to the public' to 'prepare and correct for release.' Today 'edit' usually means the preparation, not the publishing — even when nothing is ever published, as in 'edit a private video.'

Common Collocations

• 1.edit a document编辑文档
• 2.edit a photo修图
• 3.edit mode编辑模式
• 4.make an edit做一处改动

Example Sentences

• 1.

  He spent the afternoon editing the report before submission.

• 2.

  She edits short films for an independent studio.

• 3.

  I made a quick edit to the headline.