editor

American  

[ed-i-ter] / ˈɛd ɪ tər /

noun

1. a person having managerial and sometimes policy-making responsibility related to the writing, compilation, and revision of content for a publishing firm or for a newspaper, magazine, or other publication.

   She was offered a managing editor position at a small press.

2. the supervisor or manager of a department of a newspaper, magazine, etc..

   the sports editor of a newspaper.

3. a person who edits, or selects and revises, material for publications, films, etc..

   a video editor;

   the editor of an online journal.

4. a device for viewing, cutting, and editing film or magnetic tape to make movies, audio recordings, etc.

5. Computers. a program used for writing and revising code, data, or text.

   an XML editor.

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editor British  

/ ˈɛdɪtə /

noun

1. a person who edits written material for publication

2. a person in overall charge of the editing and often the policy of a newspaper or periodical

3. a person in charge of one section of a newspaper or periodical

   the sports editor

4. films

   1. a person who makes a selection and arrangement of individual shots in order to construct the flowing sequence of images for a film

   2. a device for editing film, including a viewer and a splicer

5. television radio a person in overall control of a programme that consists of various items, such as a news or magazine style programme

6. a computer program that facilitates the deletion or insertion of data within information already stored in a computer

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Other Word Forms

• editorship
  noun

Etymology

Origin of editor

1640–50; < Medieval Latin, Late Latin: publisher; see edit, -tor

Explanation

Newspaper editors don't write the stories, but they come up with the story ideas, assign them to writers, read all of the drafts, and correct and change them to make them ready to be published. You can be an editor without working at a newspaper. Magazines and books are all worked on by editors. There are photo editors and film editors, who splice together the footage and determine a movie's pacing. Even if you just correct your friend's spelling mistakes, you're editing her work.

Example Sentences

Mr. Yost is a former reporter and editor for National Speed Sport News.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 20, 2026

Tony Bellows, editor of parish magazine La Baguette, said he felt social housing could be improved.

From BBC • May 19, 2026

Kristin McGrath, a senior editor for the deal-hunting site The Krazy Coupon Lady, recommends going for the coconut shrimp or shrimp scampi and passing on the shrimp linguini alfredo.

From MarketWatch • May 14, 2026

This new season is called Becoming Justice Gorsuch, and is hosted by Slate executive editor Susan Matthews.

From Slate • May 14, 2026

Your letters have provided me such entertainment and enlightenment that I have shared them with Mr. George Miltenberger, editor of the Arlington News.

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson