proofreadv.
/ˈpruːfriːd/, U.S. /ˈprufˌrid/ Originally U.S.
1. transitive. To read (text, esp. in proof) in order to find and mark errors for correction. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > correction > correct [verb (transitive)] > proofs
proof-correct1803
proofread1845
reproof1850
proof1930
to mark up1963
1845 Liberator 15 Aug. 131/5 A number of typographical errors have crept into the letter of Mr. Brisbane on the first side, in consequence of its not being proof-read by the author.
1856 Knickerbocker Dec. 654 Going down to the printing-office, to proof-read.
1869 W. D. Howells Let. 24 Aug. in Sel. Lett. (1979) I. 335 I believe..we're proof-read too much.
1933 G. Stein Autobiogr. Alice B. Toklas v. 139 A good many years later Jane Heap said that she had never appreciated the quality of Gertrude Stein's work until she proof-read it.
1951 L. Hellman Autumn Garden i. 14 His publishers..want the manuscript... I'll have to proofread it with him tonight.
1988 E. Segal Doctors xxxvii. 561 Now while I stay up and proofread, I want you to go and get another good night's sleep.
2004 High Mountain Mar. 24/2 As I recall from proof reading BMC New Climbs in 1988.
2. transitive. Molecular Biology. To maintain, by an enzymatic process, the fidelity of (a sequence of bases or amino acids) during DNA replication, transcription, or translation. Also intransitive: to perform proofreading (proofreading n. 2).
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1974 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 71 4135/2 From a phenomenological point of view, if it were possible to proofread the product (or the site recognition during synthesis) once with the same precision as the conventional first identification, the fraction of errors would drop.
1988 P. W. Kuchel et al. Schaum's Outl. Theory & Probl. Biochem. xvi. 461 The 3′→5′ exonuclease activity of DNA polymerase I..functions to proofread for such mistakes.
2003 Cellular & Molecular Life Sci. 60 639 New data suggest that the initial act of translation on newly synthesised mRNA also functions to proofread mRNA for errors. Aberrant mRNAs detected in this way are rapidly degraded.
Derivatives
ˈproof-read adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > printing > correction > [adjective] > corrected > proof-read or corrected
proofed1892
proof-read1917
press-corrected1964
1917 School Rev. 25 514 Let English teachers use as laboratory material the proofread essays written by pupils in content courses.
1946 M. Lowry Let. 15 Sept. in Sursum Corda! (1995) I. 633 She never received the promised proof read galleys.
1990 Dragon Mag. Mar. 92/3 The abysmally proofread cover copy utterly fails to describe the novel.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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