Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To draw up or frame (a proclamation, for example).
  • transitive verb To make ready for publication; edit or revise.
  • transitive verb To delete or remove (private or sensitive information) from a document in preparation for publication.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To bring to a specified form or condition; force or compel to assume a certain form; reduce.
  • To bring into a presentable literary form; edit.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To reduce to form, as literary matter; to digest and put in shape (matter for publication); to edit.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To reduce to form, as literary matter; to digest and put in shape (matter for publication); to edit.
  • verb To censor, used by a government when parts of a document are kept secret and the remainder released.
  • verb law To black out text for other purposes, such as in law, when legally protected sections of text are obscured in a document provided to opposing counsel, typically as part of the discovery process.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun someone who puts text into appropriate form for publication
  • verb formulate in a particular style or language
  • verb prepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English redacten, from Latin redigere, redāct-, to drive back : re-, red-, re- + agere, to drive; see act.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Old French redacter, from Latin redactus, perfect passive participle of redigō ("drive, lead, collect, reduce"), from re- ("back") + agō ("put in motion, drive").

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  • redact writing is red an act to do

    January 13, 2007