Rewriting

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. The act of modifying text involves enhancing its structure, clarifying meanings, and producing a revised version with substantial alterations
2. The method of reworking written material includes improving its organization, modifying its content, and generating an updated draft
3. The act of composing a written work again by making changes to improve or alter the original

Etymology: "Rewriting" is the present participle and gerund of "rewrite," so its history is really the history of the verb. "Rewrite" is a plain compound: the prefix "re-," meaning "again," attached to "write." The prefix is Latin in origin, from "re-," and it reached English by way of Old French "re-," while "write" comes from Old English, so the two parts arrived by different routes and were joined in English. The sense of "write" that "rewrite" builds on is the older one, to set down letters or marks on a surface. Adding "again" gives the core meaning of the act: putting words back onto the page with changes made to the original. The word therefore needs no special invention; its meaning follows directly from its two parts.

Synonyms: revising, editing, amending, modifying, redrafting

Antonyms: copying, reproducing, plagiarizing, retaining, keeping