ed

¹ American  

[ed] / ɛd /

noun

Informal.

1. education.

   a course in driver's ed; adult ed.

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Ed ² American  

[ed] / ɛd /

noun

1. a male given name, form of Edgar or Edward.

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ED ³ American  

1. Department of Education.

2. Pathology. erectile dysfunction.

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-ed ⁴ American  

1. a suffix forming the past tense of weak verbs.

   he crossed the river.

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-ed ⁵ American  

1. a suffix forming the past participle of weak verbs (he had crossed the river ), and of participial adjectives indicating a condition or quality resulting from the action of the verb (inflated balloons ).

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-ed ⁶ American  

1. a suffix forming adjectives from nouns.

   bearded; monied; tender-hearted.

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ed. ⁷ American  

abbreviation

plural

eds,

plural

eds

1. edited.

2. edition.

3. editor.

4. education.

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E.D. ⁸ American  

abbreviation

1. Eastern Department.

2. election district.

3. ex dividend.

4. executive director.

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ed. ¹ British  

abbreviation

1. edited

2. edition

3. editor

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-ed ² British  

suffix

1. forming the past tense of most English verbs

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-ed ³ British  

suffix

1. forming the past participle of most English verbs

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-ed ⁴ British  

suffix

1. possessing or having the characteristics of

   salaried; red-blooded

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Etymology

Origin of ed¹

By shortening

Origin of -ed⁴

Old English -de, -ede, -ode, -ade; origin disputed

Origin of -ed⁵

Old English -ed, -od, -ad; origin disputed

Origin of -ed⁶

Middle English; Old English -ede

Example Sentences

Report ed new U.S. rules may require government permission for nearly all overseas sales of AI chips, impacting companies like Nvidia and AMD.

From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026

Many schools referred only obliquely to the newly confrontational relationship between the federal government and higher ed in commentary accompanying their investment returns.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 16, 2025

Data provided by technology company Glass.AI estimated that 1,203 ed tech companies were operating in England in 2025, up from 1,017 in 2022.

From BBC • Jul. 22, 2025

What calls to mind phys ed and school gymnasiums more palpably than dodgeball?

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 20, 2024

The building is bigger, too, and there are lots of different wings—the sixth-grade wing, the seventh-grade wing, the eighth-grade wing, the arts wing, the phys ed wing.

From "The Thing About Jellyfish" by Ali Benjamin