amend

amend — verb

1. to make small changes to the wording of an official text such as a law, contract

1.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to make small changes to the wording of an official text such as a law, contract, or written statement, usually to fix an error, update a detail, or improve how clearly it expresses an idea.

Example

Congress voted to amend the constitution to protect voting rights for young citizens.

amend + noun (law/document)

The lawyers asked Mei-Ling to amend two clauses in the contract before signing.

amend + noun (legal document)

Common collocations
  • amend the constitution
  • amend the bill
  • amend the contract
  • amend a statement
  • amend a clause
  • formally amend
Synonyms
  • revise

    broader; includes major rewriting, not just wording fixes

  • modify

    general change to anything; less tied to legal or written texts

  • alter

    neutral change; doesn't suggest the official, formal context that 'amend' carries

Grammar Patterns

amend + noun (law/document/text)

Usage Note

Object is almost always an official or written text (law, bill, constitution, contract, statement, policy). Frequently appears in legal, political, and business writing; rare in everyday speech.

Common Mistakes

Please amend this email before you send it.
Please correct this email before you send it.
'amend' is for official documents, not casual writing.
I need to amend my mistake.
I need to correct my mistake.
'amend' takes a text as its object, not an error itself.

Word family

  • amendment
    nounB2
  • amended
    adjectiveC1
  • amendable
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four verbs describe changing something already written, but they sit in different registers and cover different scopes. 'Amend' is the most formal: it almost always refers to small, official changes to a law, contract, or written statement, and it carries legal weight ('Congress amended the bill'). 'Revise' is broader — it covers any update from a typo fix to a full rewrite, and works for essays, plans, and editions ('She revised her essay three times'). 'Correct' focuses on fixing what is wrong rather than improving what is acceptable ('Please correct the spelling'). 'Modify' is the most general: any change to any thing, formal or informal ('He modified the recipe'). Use 'amend' only when the object is an official text.

amend ↗revise ↗correct ↗modify ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • amend the wording of
  • move to amend
  • as amended

Prepositions

  • amend by (adding/removing)
  • amend to (include/reflect)

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Came into English from Old French 'amender', which traces back to Latin 'emendare' — built from 'e-' (out of) plus 'menda' (a fault or blemish), so the original idea was 'to take a fault out of something'. The legal sense of changing a law's wording grew from this older meaning of removing flaws and is now the dominant use.