Redactado

Redactado is the past participle of the Spanish verb redactar and functions as an adjective meaning drafted, written, or prepared. It can also be used as a noun in some contexts to refer to the text that has been drafted, though more common terms for the object are borrador, borrador de un documento, or simplemente texto redactado.

Usage and meaning

In everyday language, you can say “un documento redactado” to indicate a document that has been drafted or written. The form “el redactado” may be heard, but it is less common; speakers more often refer to “la redacción” (the wording or the act of writing) or to “el texto redactado” (the drafted text). The verb redactar is widely used in contexts such as journalism, administration, academia, and law.

Context and nuance

In legal, governmental, and organizational settings, redactar is used to describe the process of drafting laws, contracts, reports, or official communications. The result is usually described as la redacción de un texto or el texto redactado. The term redacción emphasizes the act or result of writing, while redacted in English carries a sense of withheld information; in Spanish, hiding or censoring content is typically described with verbs like censurar, ocultar, or eliminar rather than redactar.

Etymology

Redactado derives from redactar, which in turn comes from Latin redactare, meaning to bring into order or to compose. The term has been part of Spanish since the medieval and early modern periods and remains standard in modern usage.

See also: redacción, redactar, borrador, texto redactado.