Unpublishing

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Withdrawing material that has already been released to the public, such as a book, article or web page, so that it is no longer available
2. The act of taking content that was once printed or posted online out of circulation and making it unavailable to readers
3. Pulling a previously issued work, like a published text or online post, back from public access so it can no longer be read or viewed

Etymology: "Unpublishing" is the present participle and gerund of "unpublish," a verb formed from the prefix "un-" attached to "publish." The prefix reverses the action: to unpublish something is to withdraw it from circulation after it has already appeared in print or online, so the word describes taking back material that was once made public. The base word "publish" comes from Latin "publicare," meaning to make public, from "publicus," public. The "un-" prefix is a productive English device that has been attached to many verbs over the centuries, so "unpublish" follows the same pattern as words like "unsay" or "undo," where the sense is simply the reversal of the original action. Its appearance in modern usage reflects the digital era, when a web page or e-book can be removed from sale or availability, a situation that rarely had an equivalent in the age of paper.

Antonyms: publishing, issuing