Op-ed was among our top lookups on September 5th, 2018, after The New York Times took the unusual step of publishing an anonymous example of this type of column, written by an official in the Trump administration.
The Times’s Opinion desk has taken the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We did so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.
— The New York Times (nytimes.com), 5 Sept. 2018
We define op-ed as “a page of special features usually opposite the editorial page of a newspaper; also : a feature on such a page.” The word is an abbreviated version of opposite and editorial, a reflection of where its placement falls in most newspapers. Op-ed is typically written in hyphenated form, thus allowing it to be more readily distinguished from the past participle form of ope (an archaic verb, meaning "open").
Op-Ed Page — The Post today adds the column of Mark Sullivan, who soon will be joined by Dorothy Thompson and Walter Lippman. Turn to Page 9.
— The Washington Post, 14 Jun. 1938
