redaction

noun

re·​dac·​tion ri-ˈdak-shən 

1

: an act or instance of redacting something

2

: a work that has been redacted : edition, version

redactional

ri-ˈdak-shnəl 

-shə-nᵊl

adjective

Did you know?

Here's a quiz for all you etymology buffs. Can you pick the words from the following list that come from the same Latin root?

A. redaction B. prodigal C. agent D. essay
E. navigate F. ambiguous

If you guessed all of them, you are right. Now, for bonus points, name the Latin root that they all have in common. If you knew that it is the verb agere, meaning to "to drive, lead, act, or do," you get an A+. Redaction is from the Latin verb redigere ("to bring back" or "to reduce"), which was formed by adding the prefix red- (meaning "back") to agere. Some other agere offspring include act, agenda, cogent, litigate, chasten, agile, and transact.

Examples of redaction in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That included some 3,000 documents that had never been made public and 30,000 that had been previously released with redactions, but not all of the files were made public during his first term. —Stefan Becket, CBS News, 24 Jan. 2025

However, in June, an appeals court ruled that the Hueston investigation was extensive and that UCLA must release the report, with redactions, emphasizing its public interest and reliability. —Alexis Timko, Los Angeles Times, 19 Jan. 2025

The redactions might get lifted over time as part of the legal process. —Alina Selyukh, NPR, 17 Jan. 2025

Sacramento State had excluded the list of transactions in the August report published to its website as a redaction, but released the documents this month. —Ishani Desai, Sacramento Bee, 10 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

French rédaction, from Late Latin redaction-, redactio act of reducing, compressing, from Latin redigere to bring back, reduce, from re-, red- re- + agere to lead — more at agent

First Known Use

1785, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!