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; 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

Gatwa, who played the Doctor in the long-running science fiction show for two seasons, will be made a Doctor of the University, as will Sarah Smith, the BBC's North America editor.

From BBC • Apr. 14, 2026

England were "feckless, reckless and legless" on their dismal Ashes tour of Australia, according to the editor of the prestigious Wisden Almanack.

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

When I told my editor what I was working on, he dug up an L.A.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026

But you could use them as a “bridge” to Social Security if you’ll be retiring within 10 years, says David Enna, editor of Tipswatch.com.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

But then his editor refused to change his book deadline again and he had to take over a summer session class and we never went anywhere.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson