1. To free something from faults; to correct what is faulty, to rectify.
2. To remove errors from the text of a book or document by making corrections or alterations to improve the text.

Emend comes from Latin e-, "out" + mendum, "fault". This Latin mendum, "fault", is also the source of amend and mend.

It is well to remember that although amend and emend overlap in meaning, there are also distinct differences.

• To amend is to change something in order to improve it: "He amended the speech by making some additions and deletions."
• To emend is to change something in order to correct it: "He emended the report by substituting the correct figures for the erroneous ones."
• Because emend seems to be losing favor and amend is taking over both meanings, the terms "to correct, to rectify", etc. were added to the definition in amend above, but precise writers would still consider these as proper synonyms only for emend, not for amend.