Write (?), v. t. [imp.
Wrote (?); p. p. Written (?);
Archaic imp. & p. p. Writ (?); p. pr. &
vb. n. Writing.] [OE. writen, AS.
wrītan; originally, to scratch, to score; akin to OS.
wrītan to write, to tear, to wound, D. rijten to tear,
to rend, G. reissen, OHG. rīzan, Icel.
rīta to write, Goth. writs a stroke, dash, letter. Cf.
Race tribe, lineage.]
1. To set down, as legible characters; to form the
conveyance of meaning; to inscribe on any material by a suitable
instrument; as, to write the characters called letters; to
write figures.
2. To set down for reading; to express in legible
or intelligible characters; to inscribe; as, to write a deed; to
write a bill of divorcement; hence, specifically, to set down in an
epistle; to communicate by letter.
Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to one
she loves.
Shak.
I chose to write the thing I durst not speak
To her I loved.
Prior.
3. Hence, to compose or produce, as an
author.
I purpose to write the history of England from the
accession of King James the Second down to a time within the memory of men
still living.
Macaulay.
4. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as,
truth written on the heart.
5. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by
one's own written testimony; -- often used reflexively.
He who writes himself by his own inscription is like
an ill painter, who, by writing on a shapeless picture which he hath drawn,
is fain to tell passengers what shape it is, which else no man could
imagine.
Milton.
To write to, to communicate by a written document
to. -- Written laws, laws deriving their force
from express legislative enactment, as contradistinguished from
unwritten, or common, law. See the Note under Law, and
Common law, under Common, a.
Write, v. i. 1. To form
characters, letters, or figures, as representative of sounds or ideas; to
express words and sentences by written signs. Chaucer.
So it stead you, I will write,
Please you command.
Shak.
2. To be regularly employed or occupied in writing,
copying, or accounting; to act as clerk or amanuensis; as, he writes
in one of the public offices.
3. To frame or combine ideas, and express them in
written words; to play the author; to recite or relate in books; to
compose.
They can write up to the dignity and character of the
authors.
Felton.
4. To compose or send letters.
He wrote for all the Jews that went out of his realm
up into Jewry concerning their freedom.
1 Esdras iv.
49.
Write (?), v. t. [imp.
Wrote (?); p. p. Written (?);
Archaic imp. & p. p. Writ (?); p. pr. &
vb. n. Writing.] [OE. writen, AS.
wrītan; originally, to scratch, to score; akin to OS.
wrītan to write, to tear, to wound, D. rijten to tear,
to rend, G. reissen, OHG. rīzan, Icel.
rīta to write, Goth. writs a stroke, dash, letter. Cf.
Race tribe, lineage.]
1. To set down, as legible characters; to form the
conveyance of meaning; to inscribe on any material by a suitable
instrument; as, to write the characters called letters; to
write figures.
2. To set down for reading; to express in legible
or intelligible characters; to inscribe; as, to write a deed; to
write a bill of divorcement; hence, specifically, to set down in an
epistle; to communicate by letter.
Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to one
she loves.
Shak.
I chose to write the thing I durst not speak
To her I loved.
Prior.
3. Hence, to compose or produce, as an
author.
I purpose to write the history of England from the
accession of King James the Second down to a time within the memory of men
still living.
Macaulay.
4. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as,
truth written on the heart.
5. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by
one's own written testimony; -- often used reflexively.
He who writes himself by his own inscription is like
an ill painter, who, by writing on a shapeless picture which he hath drawn,
is fain to tell passengers what shape it is, which else no man could
imagine.
Milton.
To write to, to communicate by a written document
to. -- Written laws, laws deriving their force
from express legislative enactment, as contradistinguished from
unwritten, or common, law. See the Note under Law, and
Common law, under Common, a.
Write, v. i. 1. To form
characters, letters, or figures, as representative of sounds or ideas; to
express words and sentences by written signs. Chaucer.
So it stead you, I will write,
Please you command.
Shak.
2. To be regularly employed or occupied in writing,
copying, or accounting; to act as clerk or amanuensis; as, he writes
in one of the public offices.
3. To frame or combine ideas, and express them in
written words; to play the author; to recite or relate in books; to
compose.
They can write up to the dignity and character of the
authors.
Felton.
4. To compose or send letters.
He wrote for all the Jews that went out of his realm
up into Jewry concerning their freedom.
1 Esdras iv.
49.