text editor

American  

noun

Computers.

1. a program for editing stored documents, performing such functions as adding, deleting, or moving text.

---

Other Word Forms

• text-editing adjective

Etymology

Origin of text editor

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

So Mr. Simonyi built a text editor, giving rise to modern word processors like Microsoft Word.

From New York Times • Mar. 22, 2023

To set up a Manubot project, users clone a dedicated GitHub repository to their computer and modify it using a standard programming text editor, such as Emacs or SublimeText.

From Nature • Mar. 30, 2020

There are graph-like illustrations, circles, arrows, number lines, maps and even an irrelevant excursus about an outmoded text editor called Kedit.

From Washington Post • Sep. 6, 2017

Like many people, the majority of my work involves a desktop computing environment and a text editor.

From The Guardian • Jan. 5, 2017

The default text editor it generally calls up when you hit your r or m key is often a program called emacs.

From Big Dummy's Guide to the Internet by Electronic Frontier Foundation