stet

American

[stet] / stɛt /

verb (used without object)

let it stand (used imperatively as a direction on a printer's proof, manuscript, or the like, to retain material previously cancelled, usually accompanied by a row of dots under or beside the material).

verb (used with object)

to mark (a manuscript, printer's proof, etc.) with the word “stet” or with dots as a direction to let cancelled material remain.

stet British

/ stɛt /

noun

a word or mark indicating that certain deleted typeset or written matter is to be retained Compare dele

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

(tr) to mark (matter to be retained) with a stet

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of stet

1815–25; < Latin stēt, present subjunctive 3rd person singular of stāre to stand

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Luckily, she was kind, and if you changed it she would just change it back and stet it without upbraiding you.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 16, 2015

Mr. Newman in the end noted against almost all these expressions stet.

From Memoirs of James Robert Hope-Scott, Volume 2 by Ornsby, Robert

When a word or words have been struck out, and it is subsequently decided that they shall remain, make dots under them, and write the word stet in the margin.

From "Stops", Or How to Punctuate A Practical Handbook for Writers and Students by Allardyce, Paul

Ahaena quassans tela gravi manu Sic ibat atrox Ossiani pater: Quiescat urn�, stet fidelis Phersonius vigil ad favillam.

From Life of Johnson, Volume 5 Tour to the Hebrides (1773) and Journey into North Wales (1774) by Boswell, James

Observe that there had been no charge or imputation against these men, more or less: stet proratione voluntas.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 54, No. 337, November, 1843 by Various

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023