The Word 'Edit' Didn't Come First — 'Editor' Did

Added: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]The word editor existed before the verb edit did. Wrap your head around that.

[00:00:05]Back formation is when people hear a word, assume it came from a simpler one, and just invent that simpler word.

[00:00:13]Editor entered English in the 1600s from Latin. But edit, that didn't appear until 1791. People worked backwards and created it.

[00:00:22]Here's your quiz.

[00:00:24]Another everyday verb was back-formed from a noun ending in -tion. The noun is donation.

[00:00:31]What's the back-formed verb? Pause now if you want to guess.

[00:00:35]The answer is donate, which didn't exist until people assumed it must. The real original word was donation, borrowed directly from Latin. Same thing happened with sculpt from sculptor and enthuse from enthusiasm.

[00:00:49]English speakers are brilliant at accidentally building words in reverse.

[00:00:53]Did you already know back formation was a real linguistic process? Drop yes or no in the comments. Bonus fact, burgle came from burglar the exact same way. A verb born from its own noun.