overwrite.
To destroy (older) data by recording new data over it.
Meaning & usage
To destroy (older) data by recording new data over it.
I accidentally saved my unwanted changes and overwrote the version of the document I wanted to keep.
To cover in writing; to write over the top of.
To write too much.
To write in an unnecessarily complicated or florid way; to produce purple prose.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English write English overwrite From over- + write.
The operation of destroying older data by recording new data over it.
Where this word comes from
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *úp Proto-Indo-European *-er Proto-Indo-European *upér Proto-Germanic *uber Old English ofer- Middle English over- English over- English write English overwrite From over- + write.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.