edit

edit vb Edit, compile, revise, redact, rewrite, adapt, though not strict synonyms, are sometimes confused when used of the preparation of material for publication.

Edit covers a wide range of meaning, sometimes stressing one implication, sometimes another. It fundamentally implies preparation for publication of a work, often the work of another or of others; thus, to edit a text (as a play of Shakespeare) usually means to present the text as nearly as possible in the form intended by the author, but it often suggests the modernization of spelling, the giving of variant readings, or the addition of comments or glosses; to edit a newspaper or magazine means, in general, to become responsible for the contents and policy of the periodical as a whole, sometimes by doing all or most of the work involved but far oftener by supervising the work of a staff, by exercising surveillance of all outside writers or of the articles they write, and sometimes by writing editorials or leaders; to edit a work of reference (as a dictionary or encyclopedia) means to plan and execute a new work or one of its later editions, or, more often, to supervise the work of subordinates charged with the execution of those plans. Because the details of editing vary according to the nature of the work edited, the verb is often used narrowly with a stress on one of these implications; thus, to edit often currently implies the cutting out of material for the sake of improvement or to meet limitations of space but often for other reasons that concern the person or the institution involved

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edit a classic for high school use

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Compile in reference to literary material stresses a gathering together of material, whether written by oneself or obtained from varied sources, to form a collection, an anthology, or a work of reference; often, in addition, it implies the performance of the tasks of an editor, for it suggests need of skill in arrangement, in interpretation, and in dealing with textual problems

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Palgrave compiled in the first volume of the Golden Treasury one of the best anthologies of English poetry

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the French Academy . . . took forty years to compile their Dictionary— William Adams

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Revise (see also CORRECT) implies a review of an earlier draft or edition to see where it can be improved and the actual work of improving

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twenty years after Dr. Smith's death his standard work on this subject was revised and brought up-to-date by Dr. Jones

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the society finally decided to revise its bylaws

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Redact is used mostly by literary and historical scholars, especially in its derivative forms redaction and redactor, to imply the presentation of something in form for use or for publication. It may imply careful framing of or giving expression to some material

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council of ministers . . . engaged in redacting the two proclamations— W. G. Clark

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but it more often suggests editing of materials

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the redaction of this great work . . . was ultimately confided to Diderot— Jefferies

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or even, especially in the form redactor, the giving of a new form to an old work (as by revision, rearrangement, or addition)

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the visit of Julius Caesar to Egypt in the Pharsalia is seized upon by its [medieval] redactor to introduce . . . the liaison between Caesar and Cleopatra— Lowes

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whatever delicacy and poignancy the tale has in Ovid's version eludes the Elizabethan redactor— PMLA

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Rewrite implies a putting into a form suitable for publication of a set of facts or of material gathered by another (as a reporter). The verb often occurs in this sense but is not so common as the noun rewrite designating such an article

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made a complete rewrite of his earlier draft

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it is this journalist's function to rewrite stories sent in by local representatives in nearby towns

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an old song which Burns has simply rewritten— Kilby

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the reporter at the scene of the catastrophe telephoned his story to a rewrite man in his editorial office

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Adapt (for fuller treatment see ADAPT) implies a free alteration of the work of someone else to make it suitable for other readers or for another medium

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the play was adapted from a French farce

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the book was adapted with success for the stage— J. D. Hart

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the tunes he adapted freely from French vaudeville— Edward SackvilleWest & Desmond Shawe-Taylor

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Analogous words: *make, fabricate, fashion, form edition, impression, reprinting, printing, reissue are capable of being distinguished when used to designate the total number of copies of the same work printed during a stretch of time.

Edition, as now used by publishers and to some extent by printers, applies to all the books and also to all the newspapers printed from the same type or plates made from it. Terms such as special edition, limited edition, and anniversary edition are sometimes used to indicate the particular form or format in which a fixed text is presented; but in United States copyright law a different edition must incorporate some material addition to or revision of the original matter. Hence, when the first edition gives way to the second edition, the second edition to the third edition, and so on, a definite change in content is implied. The work may have been revised in whole or in part, whether by bringing it up-to-date or by varying it (this is especially true of newspapers) to suit a particular clientele, but in all cases there must have been changes involving an entire or partial resetting of type before a work can be said to go into a new edition

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the 14th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica

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you will find it in the city edition of the New York Times for January 17th

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Impression applies to all of the books (also prints or engravings) run off by the press at one time. The standing type or plates are then stored until a later impression (often called a reprinting) is needed. It is now the general practice among publishers to speak of the aggregate number of copies of a new book run off from the press in a large number and at one time (or, in technical language, printed in a continuous run from a single makeready) as an impression rather than an edition, thereby respecting the latter word's implication of substantial changes in content

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a work which went through several impressions

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Printing is often used as practically equivalent to impression or reprinting but it is sometimes preferred as implying some minor corrections

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the book is already in its tenth printing

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Reissue is used to denote a republication, usually after some time, of a work which is out of print. The reissue may differ in price from the original edition or impression owing to changes in paper or in binding, and it may differ in further ways requiring a resetting of type in whole or in part.