redaction

American  

[ri-dak-shuhn] / rɪˈdæk ʃən /

noun

1. the editing of text so as to hide or remove confidential or sensitive information.

   Transcripts of the hearing will be available online once the redaction is completed.

2. the text or information that has been removed or hidden.

   Most of the redactions pertain to the privacy interests of the parties, including Social Security numbers, telephone numbers, and home addresses.

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Other Word Forms

• redactional adjective

Etymology

Origin of redaction

First recorded in 1610–20; from French rédaction, equivalent to Latin redāct(us) + -iō -ion ( def. ); redact ( def. )

Explanation

Redaction is a fancy way to describe the process of organizing and editing something before publishing it. Your fifty-page story will need some redaction before the school literary magazine will accept it! You can use the noun redaction for the finished version of a text as well as the process of getting it into this form: "You can throw that copy away, because I've got the redaction ready for you to look at." It's also common to see redaction defined as a censored version of a document, like the redaction journalists receive from the CIA, with classified sections blacked out.

Example Sentences

The redaction failures have given ammunition to bloggers and online commentators who have portrayed women trapped in Epstein’s orbit as willing participants.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 15, 2026

At the hearing, Bondi faced sharp criticism over the Justice Department’s Epstein investigation — specifically over redaction errors in the release millions of case files last month.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2026

In a letter submitted to a federal judge on Monday, the DOJ said: "All documents requested by victims or counsel to be removed by yesterday evening have been removed for further redaction."

From BBC • Feb. 3, 2026

“Within the past 48 hours, the undersigned alone has reported thousands of redaction failures on behalf of nearly 100 individual survivors whose lives have been turned upside down by DOJ’s latest release,” the lawyers wrote.

From Slate • Feb. 3, 2026

See also Böllenrücher, Nergal, No. 6.309.The late redaction of this melody revises this litany with the new liturgical movement ursaggal—elimma placed before alternate lines.

From Sumerian Liturgies and Psalms by Langdon, Stephen

Related Words

• adaptation
• form
• history
• interpretation
• rendition
• report
• story
• tale
• translation
• variant