The words ‘amend’ and ‘emend’ have Latin origins which is the reason for the similarity between their spelling and meaning.
so what is the difference between Amend and Emend?
The key difference between amend and emend is that ‘emend’ refers to the change made in a written document to fix the error, whereas ‘amend’ refers to the change made in a written document or personal behavior merely to make it better.
Amend vs Emend – Difference
The word “Amend“ is older than the word “Emend” and it is classified as a verb in the English Grammar. Its formal dictionary meaning is “small change or improvement that is made to a document or proposed new law”. This means that ‘amend’ refers to change, usually to a document or one’s personality, in order to make it better or more suitable. However, it is important to note that this does not mean that the change is being made because of the original document or behavior because it was wrong. The change is being made to make the original product to make it better. The presence of error is not an essential element for making an ‘amend’. Some examples of the usage of the word ‘amend’ are as follows:
- The attorney lawyer assured me that he would amend the document.
- Has the government amended that bill yet?
- She promised to amend her ways before the end of the month.
- The Lok Sabha voted in favour of amending the bill.
- I am glad for the chance I got to amend my column in the magazine.
The term ‘amendment’ is a noun form of ‘amend’. It too refers to the act of changing a text to improve its quality or content. This is used most commonly while referring to changes being made to a legal document.
These are a few examples of the use of the word ‘amendment’:
- The final amendment to the new bill is being done today.
- The third amendment seeks to promote inclusivity and the importance of diversity in the government employment sector.
- What does a constitutional amendment mean?
- The new clause was enacted without the amendment prescribed by the law review committee.
‘Emend’ on the other hand refers to changing a document or text of any kind to eliminate error. It came into existence a few centuries after the word ‘amend’. According to the dictionary, it refers to “make corrections or revisions to a text”.
Refer to the illustrations given below to understand it better:
- Make sure you emend your research paper before submitting it to the professor.
- It took me an hour to emend your datasheet because of the numerous errors you made.
- Historical evidence formed the pathway for the historians to emend their beliefs on the reign of Cleopatra.
- The author’s assistant is currently emending the first draft of his book.
- The requirement for the emendation of the website was made clear within a day of the website’s launch.
