What does coeditor mean?
A coeditor is a person who holds editorial responsibility for a publication jointly with one or more other editors. The word appears most often in academic and professional publishing — scholarly journals, anthologies, collected volumes, and newspapers — where editorial duties are shared between two or more people of comparable standing. Being named a coeditor usually signals formal recognition: the title appears on mastheads, title pages, and curricula vitae, and it implies shared decision-making over what is published, how manuscripts are revised, and how the publication is shaped overall. The term derives from the Latin prefix 'co-', meaning 'together', attached to 'editor', itself from the Latin 'edere', 'to give out' or 'publish'. Usage varies slightly by region: British style tends to prefer the hyphenated form 'co-editor', while American writing commonly uses the closed form. For writers and academics, the word is useful precisely because it conveys collaboration at the top level of a publication rather than subordinate roles such as associate or assistant editor.
nounA person who edits a publication, journal, or volume jointly with one or more others; a joint editor.
- A person who shares editorial responsibility for a publication with one or more other editors.
"She served as coeditor of the literary review for nearly a decade."
"As coeditor of the anthology, he read over two thousand submissions."
"The journal announced that Dr. Patel would become coeditor alongside its longtime founder."
The plural simply adds -s and refers to multiple people sharing editorial duties, whether on the same publication or across different ones.
"The volume lists three coeditors on its title page."
The 'co-' in coeditor comes straight from Latin, where it meant 'together' — the same prefix that gives us 'cooperate' and 'coexist', making every coeditor literally someone who edits-with.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of coeditor
Coeditor combines the Latin prefix 'co-', meaning 'together' or 'jointly' (from 'cum'), with 'editor', which traces to the Latin verb 'edere', meaning 'to give out, publish, or bring forth'. The word 'editor' entered English in the seventeenth century from French and Latin sources, and compounds formed with 'co-' followed as collaborative publishing arrangements became common. Cognates sharing the same root include 'edition', 'editorial', and the parallel formation 'coauthor'.
Related word forms
How coeditor is actually used
Coeditor is typically used in academic and publishing contexts and carries a neutral to professional register. It is frequently hyphenated as 'co-editor' in British style guides, while American publications more often use the closed form. The plural is coeditors.
Easily confused with coeditor
An editor works alone or as part of a team without the 'co-' prefix specifically denoting equal joint responsibility, whereas a coeditor explicitly shares editorial duties with another named editor.