编辑

• Pinyin: biān jí
• Hanzi breakdown: 编 = 纟(silk) + 扁 (flat, phonetic); 辑 = 车 (vehicle) + 咠 (phonetic)

Meaning

Edit; editor. Both the action of editing and the person who edits.

As a verb, means to edit text, video, or other content. As a noun, refers to an editor at a publishing house, website, or media company. Common in publishing, journalism, and digital content creation.

Examples

1. 这本书的编辑工作花了整整半年时间。 The editing work for this book took a full six months.
2. 她在一家杂志社担任高级编辑。 She works as a senior editor at a magazine company.
3. 你可以用这个软件来编辑照片和视频。 You can use this software to edit photos and videos.

Usage Guide

Context: publishing, media, technology

Tone: professional

Do Say

• 这篇文章需要编辑一下。(This article needs some editing.)
• 他是资深编辑。(He's a senior editor.)

Don't Say

• 把'编辑'和'作者'混淆——编辑是修改整理内容的人，作者是创作内容的人 (Don't confuse 编辑 with 作者 — an editor revises content, while an author creates it)

Origin & History

Compound of 编 (weave/compile) + 辑 (collect/edit), both relating to organizing and arranging content.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal