edit · audit · edible · audible

edit /ˈɛdɪt/ · audit /ˈɔːdɪt/ · edible /ˈɛdɪbəl/ · audible /ˈɔːdɪbəl/ — one vowel swap, short /ɛ/ to long /ɔː/, repeated across two word pairs with identical endings.

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Two pairs, one vowel swap: edit /ˈɛdɪt/ vs audit /ˈɔːdɪt/, and the same pattern stretched onto edible vs audible. Change only the first vowel — short /ɛ/ to long /ɔː/ — and the rest of the word stays identical.

⠿ reorder

edit

verb — to prepare written, recorded, or filmed material by correcting, cutting, or rearranging it — 'edit a video' · 'edit an essay'

mouth shape

short /ɛ/ — mouth mid-open, like 'bed', 'set' — stressed on the first syllable

edit

/ˈɛd.ɪt/

vowel length

short /ɛ/

plays as: “edit the video”

⠿ reorder

audit

noun/verb — an official inspection of financial records, or to attend a class without earning credit — 'a tax audit' · 'audit a college course'

mouth shape

long /ɔː/ — lips rounded, jaw dropped, like 'caught', 'law' — stressed on the first syllable

audit

/ˈɔː.dɪt/

vowel length

long /ɔː/

plays as: “a tax audit”

⠿ reorder

edible

adjective — safe or fit to eat — 'edible mushrooms' · 'is this plant edible?'

mouth shape

same short /ɛ/ as edit — mouth mid-open — then an unstressed -ible ending

edible

/ˈɛd.ɪ.bəl/

vowel length

short /ɛ/

plays as: “is this edible”

⠿ reorder

audible

adjective — loud enough to be heard; also a noun in American football, a play changed at the line of scrimmage — 'barely audible' · 'call an audible'

mouth shape

same long /ɔː/ as audit — then an unstressed -ible ending

audible

/ˈɔː.dɪ.bəl/

vowel length

long /ɔː/

plays as: “barely audible”

Key difference

edit / edible — /ɛ/ is short and mid-open, like bed. audit / audible — /ɔː/ is long, with rounded lips and a dropped jaw, like caught. Everything after that first vowel — the -dit or -dible ending — is said exactly the same way in both words of each pair.

Look alike, not always related

Audit and audible really do share a root — Latin audire, “to hear.” An audit was originally a spoken hearing of accounts read aloud, and the same root gives English audio, audience, and auditorium. Edit and edible, despite looking just as matched, are not related the same way — edible traces to Latin edere, “to eat” (the same root as English eat), while edit comes from a different Latin verb meaning “to put forth or publish.” The resemblance between edit and edible is a coincidence of spelling, not shared history.