Copyedit

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To revise and correct written material to improve clarity, accuracy, and consistency
2. To review and amend text to ensure it is clear, error-free, and properly formatted
3. To edit written content by fixing errors and enhancing readability while maintaining original meaning

Etymology: "Copyedit" is a back-formation: English speakers first had the noun "copy editor," the person who checks and corrects a manuscript, and then shortened it by dropping the agent ending to produce a verb. The verb thus runs in the opposite direction from most words that gain a suffix. Instead of building a new word out of an old one by adding a piece, the language removed the "-or" that marks someone who performs an action and treated what remained as the action itself. The base words are plain and transparent. "Copy" here means the text to be prepared for publication, the material handed to printers, a sense that predates the more common modern meaning of duplicating something. "Editor" comes from Latin "editor," a producer or publisher, from "edere," to bring forth. So the job title already contained the verb idea, and the back-formation simply lifted that idea out into a standalone word.

Synonyms: proofread, revise