editing

editing — noun

1. the work of preparing a piece of writing, a film, or a recording for public use

1.nounB1
Definition

the work of preparing a piece of writing, a film, or a recording for public use by removing mistakes, organizing the content, and deciding what to keep or leave out

Example

Tariq spent the whole weekend doing editing work on his friend's first novel.

uncountable noun used as modifier: editing work

The film editing for the documentary about ancient Egypt took over three months.

domain-specific use: film editing

Common collocations
  • careful editing
  • film editing
  • video editing
  • text editing
  • photo editing
  • editing work
  • editing process
  • editing software
  • editing services
  • editing team
Synonyms
  • revision

    more common for academic or written texts, especially British English ('essay revision')

  • copyediting

    a narrower type of editing focused on grammar, style, and consistency in text

  • proofreading

    the final stage of checking a text for typos and formatting errors only, not content changes

Usage Note

Used as an uncountable noun; you cannot say 'an editing' or 'editings'. To refer to a single act of editing, use 'a round of editing' or 'the editing process'.

Common Mistakes

I need to do an editing of my essay.
I need to do a round of editing on my essay.
editing is uncountable; use 'a round of' or 'a session of' to count it.
Editing and proofreading are the same thing.
Editing involves reorganizing and rewriting content, while proofreading only checks for surface errors.
learners often confuse the broader editing process with the narrower proofreading step.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Editing is the broadest term, covering any changes made to improve a text, film, or recording for publication. Revision focuses on written content and often involves structural changes to ideas and arguments. Copyediting is a specific subset of text editing that fixes grammar, punctuation, and consistency without altering the author's voice or ideas. Proofreading is the narrowest step — it comes last and only catches typographical errors and formatting glitches. In a typical publishing workflow, a manuscript goes through editing (structural changes), then copyediting (stylistic polish), then proofreading (final check). For example: 'The editor suggested a complete revision of chapter three. After the author finished, the copyeditor corrected tense shifts and inconsistent spelling. Finally, the proofreader caught a missing comma on page 42.'

editing ↗revision ↗copyeditingproofreading

Common collocations

Nouns

  • editing work
  • editing process
  • editing services
  • editing software
  • editing team

Phrases

  • a round of editing
  • the editing stage
  • editing and proofreading

Prepositions

  • editing of
  • editing for

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Editing comes from 'edit' (verb) + '-ing' (suffix forming a noun from a verb). The verb 'edit' was formed in the late 18th century from the Latin 'ēditus', meaning 'brought forth, published' — the past participle of 'ēdere' ('to give out, produce'), which combines 'ē-' ('out') and 'dare' ('to give'). The idea of 'giving out' text shifted over time to 'preparing text for giving out', which is the modern sense.