postediting

Meaning

1. 1noununcountabletechnical

   The process of reviewing and correcting text that a machine has already produced, especially machine translation, so that it is accurate and natural.

   Grammar: Usually uncountable: postediting takes time, not a postediting.

   Patterns

   • postediting of something
   • postediting machine translation

   Postediting of machine translation can be faster than translating from scratch.

   The agency charges less for light postediting than for full translation.

   Postediting requires a careful eye for small errors in tone.

Common combinations

machine translation postediting

Machine translation postediting is now a common job in localisation.

light postediting

Light postediting fixes only the obvious errors.

full postediting

Full postediting gives a result close to human translation.

postediting guidelines

The client sent clear postediting guidelines.

postediting speed

Her postediting speed is about a thousand words an hour.

Synonyms and how they differ

proofreading

Proofreading checks a finished human text for small slips, while postediting corrects raw machine output that may have bigger problems.

revision

Revision is a general word for improving any text and need not involve machine output, whereas postediting always does.

copyediting

Copyediting improves style and consistency in human writing, while postediting focuses on fixing automated output.

Word family

postedit verb

to correct machine output

posteditor noun

a person who does postediting

postedited adjective

describes text that has been corrected after machine production

preediting noun

simplifying a source text before it goes to a machine

Commonly confused: postediting or preediting?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “postediting”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

Explore more words