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Glite Dictionary
to copyedit

to copyedit

4.4
Edit written text to correct grammar, spelling, and style
  • verb
  • /ˈkɑːpiˌɛdɪt/
  • Specialized
translation icon : editar
  • I wanted to get away from all of it—the dancer, the poet, all the other ex-boyfriends, the apartment that didn't feel like home to me, the stacks of poorly written book manuscripts I had to copyedit just to barely make ends meet.

Examples

  • He always takes time to copyedit his work before sending it to the publisher.

  • Finally, the finished article is sent on to CEC Publications staff, who copyedit and prepare the manuscript for publication.

    Academic text (2013)

  • The students got caught mostly because many of them didn't even bother to copyedit their plagiarized answers and repeated the same distinctive typos (spaces after commas in numerical figures, for example).

    Blog text (21)

  • Before submitting her article, she decided to copyedit it for grammar and clarity.

  • The professor asked her students to copyedit their essays to improve their writing skills.

Synonyms

to edit
vsto copyedit
337 1.5

To change text, video or audio to make it better

is narrower, focusing on text-level grammar, style, and consistency
to revise
vsto copyedit
179 3.4

Change a piece of writing to correct mistakes and make it better

concentrates more on correcting grammar, spelling, style, and consistency
to proofread
vsto copyedit
15 3.3

To read writing carefully and correct mistakes before it is published

also fixes style and consistency, not only final surface errors
to emend
vsto copyedit
  • Formal
1 8.1

To correct a text by removing errors

covers broader correction of grammar, style, and consistency across text
to copyread
vsto copyedit
7.1

Read and correct written text to remove mistakes before printing

focuses more on grammar, style, and consistency across a document
to subedit
vsto copyedit
  • Jargon
7.6

Edit and correct written text before it is published

focuses specifically on fixing grammar, spelling, style, and consistency

How Thorough

to revise
179 3.4
to copyedit
  • Specialized
4.4
to edit
337 1.5
to proofread
15 3.3

Surface Forms

copyedit infinitive
copyedited past
copyedited past participle
copyediting present participle
copyedits third person singular

Morphology

copyedit = copy + edit (transparent) = copy + edit

Meaning is clearly composed from 'copy' + 'edit' (editing a piece of written material), which an average B1 learner can infer from the base words.

Etymology

Copyedit is made by joining copy 'the text to be printed or published' and edit 'to correct or prepare'. So to copyedit is to 'fix the copy' by correcting grammar, spelling and style before it is published.