MEANING
To correct errors in a written text, especially through careful editorial judgment.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- emend a passage
- emend a manuscript
- emend the text
On the page
She emended the date only after comparing all three surviving copies.
The editor refused to emend a strange phrase merely because it sounded inelegant.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- emend
- Past tense
- emended
- Past participle
- emended
- Present participle
- emending
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- emend
- Present continuous
- am/is/are emending
- Present perfect
- have/has emended
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been emending
- Past
- emended
- Past continuous
- was/were emending
- Past perfect
- had emended
- Past perfect continuous
- had been emending
- Future
- will emend
- Future continuous
- will be emending
- Future perfect
- will have emended
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been emending
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary. Forms: emend; emends; emended; emended; emending Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: emends.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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