Rewrite

How to spell rewrite

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce rewrite

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does rewrite mean?

1. verbTo write something again in a different or improved form.
2. nounA revised version of a piece of writing produced from an earlier draft.

Rewrite in a sentence

• verb

  The editor asked her to rewrite the opening chapter.

• noun

  The script needed a complete rewrite before filming began.

• verb

  They had to rewrite the report after the figures changed.

• noun

  The manuscript came back from the publisher marked for a full rewrite.

Where does rewrite come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a compound formed in English by attaching the prefix re-, borrowed from Latin where it meant 'again' or 'back', to the native verb 'write'. The verb 'write' descends from Old English 'writan', which originally meant 'to scratch, score, or carve', because the earliest writing was cut or scratched into wood, bone, or stone rather than inked onto a surface. That sense of cutting survives in the relationship between writing and engraving. The pairing of the Latinate prefix with a thoroughly Germanic root is typical of English, which freely mixes the two stocks. 'Rewrite' as a single word became common only in the modern era, especially once newspapers, manuscripts, and software made the act of producing a fresh version a routine professional task.

How the word is built

• re- (again)
• write (Old English writan: to write)