ellipsed

Ellipsed is the past tense and past participle of the verb ellipsize, used to describe text in which material has been omitted and replaced with an ellipsis. As an adjective, it can describe passages whose content has been shortened by such omissions.

Origin and form: The noun ellipsis comes from Greek elleipsis, meaning "a leaving out"; the verb ellipsize derives from this root, indicating the act of creating an ellipsis. Ellipsing is common in quotation, transcription, editing, and narrative writing to signal omitted content.

Usage and conventions: In quotation, ellipsed material typically uses an ellipsis to indicate omissions. In formal writing, ellipses are usually represented by three dots; some style guides require spaces before and after the ellipsis or treat it as a single punctuation unit. In digital text, the ellipsis can be shown as the single character U+2026 (…) or as three periods. Ellipsed passages should preserve the original meaning and avoid omitting essential information.

Relation to redaction and style: Ellipsing differs from redaction, which hides information with censorship or legal marks. Ellipsed content signals omissions that are typically non-sensitive but intentional for readability, pacing, or summarization. Overuse or careless ellipsing can obscure meaning or mislead the reader.

Examples: The transcript read, "The witness saw him ... leaving the scene." In scholarly writing, authors may ellipsed noncritical details while preserving the argumentative structure.

See also: ellipsis, ellipsize, omissive punctuation, redaction.