▪ I. write, n. Chiefly Sc.
(raɪt)
Also 5–7 wryte (5 vryte, 6 Sc. vryit, wryt), 4 wriȝt, 5 wryȝt, 6 north. wrighte; Sc. 6–7 wreit (6 vr-, ur-), 7 wreitte, 6–9 wreat, 7 wreatt, wrait, 9 wraet, vreet.
[var. of writ n. after write v., or directly f. the latter.
Examples earlier than the 16th century are prob. mere graphic variants of writ (as sometimes shown by the rime), but may have helped to introduce the new form.]
† 1. That which is written; a written record or work; a writ, writing, letter, document, etc. Obs.
Latterly, and from c 1465 to c 1630 chiefly, Sc.
| c 1375 Cursor M. 8495 (Fairf.), Þis write wiþ many was rede and sene. 14.. Sir Beues (C.) 1260 Forþe he goth with þat wryte. 1466 Reg. Mag. Sig. Scot. 214/2 Made the day of this present write be us and our counsale. 1500 Caldwell Papers (Maitl. Cl.) I. 52 We haiff subscriwit þis wryte wyth our handes. 1566 Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel iv. 32 The.. Legat brought forth a write from Zosimus. 1568 T. Howell Newe Sonets (1879) 114 Thes my triflyng toyes, and far vn⁓conning writes. 1633 Costlie Whore iv. ii, Let's read these writes. What's here? complaints against my worthy brothers. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. (1699) 261 A Write that is null. 1705 Dalrymple Coll. Sc. Hist. 267, I have neither seen Writes nor Chartularies, only a Copy of the Charter. 1762 in Nairne Peerage Evidence (1874) 98 His own proper writes and evidents. |
† 2. a. Holy (or the) Write, = writ n. 1 c.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 4845 Holy wryte swyche men holdes As wylde wulues brekyng foldes. c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints v. (John) 184 Þe fyrste skil..he tuk vt of haly vryte [rime it]. 14.. Arth. & Merl. 686 (Douce MS.), Þus holy wryȝt wetnessyþ hyt. 1551 Crowley Pleas. & Pain 537 Holy wryte teacheth you so. 1567 Gude & Godlie B. (S.T.S.) 113 Thow..hes promittit in the write..Of all thair Sin to mak thame quyte. |
† b. Written record; writing; = writ n. 2. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
| 1483 in Acts Lords of Council (1918) II. p. cxxvii, Ane act of the Lordis..gevin thairupon be..actentik write and document. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche 5319 He hes red, in Hebrew wryte, Off fyftene signis. a 1553 Udall Royster D. ii. iii. (Arb.) 36 No man for despite, By worde or by write His felowe to twite. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 366 Of the quhilk..the nobillis..hard tell alsweill be wreit as be toung. c 1657 Sir W. Mure Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 238 The monuments of wryte of the greatest antiquitie. 1681 Stair Instit. i. 345 Private Ways are Constitute..by going and coming that way uninterrupted..fourty years without Write, or any other Right. 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Write,..writing, as contrasted with verbal communication. |
† 3. Law. = writ n. 3 b, c. Obs.
| a 1400 in Eng. Gilds (1870) 361 Wrytes of newe disseysyne,..And wriȝt of ryȝt of dowarye. 1477 Paston Lett. III. 212 Ye must have a meen be sum wryte of trespas for them. 1489–90 Plumpton Corr. (Camden) 92 Afore Easter, send upp your pardons, wrytes of dedimus. 1516 in Test. Ebor. (Surtees) VI. 2 By wright of entre. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 117 He wyl by wryte remoue hys cause to the court at Westmynstur. 1550 Crowley Epigr. 249 A Baylife..serued with one wryte an whole score or tweyne. |
4. Sc. = writ n. 4. Only in phr. in write.
| 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) III. 127 The king..All his desyr in wryte syne to him send. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj., Stat. David II, 47 The summonds..sall be put in write. a 1645 Ld. Napier Mem. (1793) 49 To set downe there..informations in wreat under there hand. 1717 Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 270 They behoved to set them [sc. answers] down in write. |
5. a. Sc. Handwriting; manner or style of calligraphy.
hand of write: see hand n. 16 b.
| a 1614 J. Melvill Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 185 He causit wryt a copie in guid wrait. 1678 Sir G. Mackenzie Laws Scot. ii. 525 One mans write will differ from it self at several occasions. 1814 Galt's New Brit. Theatre I. 351 Whose write is it? not Henry's, sure, no—yes! 1825 Jamieson Suppl. s.v., Sma' write, small text; Grit, Big, or Muckle write, round text. 1887 Service Life Dr. Duguid 190 My write being noo very crabbit. |
b. write-of-hand, the art or method of writing. dial.
| 1863 Mrs. Gaskell Sylvia's L. xliii, A could wish as a'd learned write-of-hand,..for a've that for to tell Christopher as might set his mind at ease. |
▪ II. write
obs. var. wright n.1
▪ III. write, v.
(raɪt)
Forms: (see below).
[OE. wr{iacu}tan, = OFris. wrîta to score, write (Fris. write to wear by rubbing, etc.), OS. wrîtan to cut, write (MLG. wrîten), OHG. rîȥan to tear, draw (MHG. rîȥen, G. reissen), ON. r{iacu}ta to score, write (Norw. rita, vrita, Sw. rita to draw); cf. ON. and Icel. rita (wk. v.), to write. The relationship of the stem wrīt- to Du. and LG. forms without w (MDu. and MLG. rîten, etc.) is doubtful.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
1. a. inf. (and pres. stem). (α) 1–2 writan, 2–4 (6 arch.) writen (3 Orm. writenn, wr{iacu}ttenn), 4 wryten, 5 -yn, writon; 4– write (5 wrijte, 9 dial. wroite), 4–6 wryte (5 wreyte, whryte, wryth(e, 9 north. dial. wreyt), 5 wrytt(e, 5–7 wryt, 6 vryt; 5 wrighte, 6–7 wright, 6 Sc. vriht, 5 wrygth, wryȝt(e, 5–6 wryght, 6 wryghte. (β) 4–5, Sc. 6 writte, 5–6 Sc., 8 writt, 4, Sc. 5–7 writ, Sc. 5–7 vrit. (γ) 5– 7, 9 Sc. wret (7 Sc. vret), 6 wrett, wrete, Sc. wreit, ureit, 7–9 wreat (9 vreet, wireete). (δ) Sc. 6 wraite, 9 vrait.
| α 831 in O.E. Texts 445 Þis mid episcopus rodetacne [ic] festnie & write. 835 Ibid. 447 Ic abba ᵹeroefa cyðe & writan hate hu min willa is. c 1100 O.E. Chron. (MS. F.) an. 40, Matheus..agan his godspell to writen. 13.. Cursor M. 648 [None] mai write..þe mikel ioy. 14.. Chaucer's Anel. & Arc. 209 (Harl. MS.), Sheo gane hit wreyte. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 534 Wrytyn, scribo. 1449 Paston Lett. I. 87 [He prayeth] me to wrythe to ȝow. ? a 1450 tr. Higden V. 359 Orator..did wryȝte the Actes of thapostles. 1480 in Cely Papers (Camden) 52 As of any tydynges her y con none wrytt yow as ȝett. 1503 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 23 In my honour sum thing thow go wryt [rime delyt]. 1589 Peele Eglogue B j b, To writen sike praise. ? 1616 Sir W. Mure Misc. Poems xvi. 3 My barren muse..to wryt forbears. 1673 in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. July (1914) 98 Thou should wright to her. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer xv, Summun I reckons 'ull 'a to wroite. |
| β 13.. Cursor M. 5323 Þe king þan did his lettres writte [rime lite]. Ibid. 9898 Fairer..þan..ani clerc mai writ wit inc. 1423 Jas. I Kingis Q. clxxxii, Quhat nedis me..To writt all this? 1533 Gau Richt Vay 25 Al the buikis..quhilk..oders cane writ. a 1700 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. IX. 365 To writt her life. 1704 Atholl in Seafield's Lett. (1915) 137, I did myself the honour to writte..last week. |
| γ 1477 in Makculloch MS. (S.T.S.) 28 Sarffo,..to wret. 1536 Boorde in Introd., etc. (1870) 52 To wrett att theyr request. a 1547 in Anglia XII. 260 Off hur goodnese then wolde I wrete. 1573 Tyrie in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 11, I haif thocht..to wreit this writting amanges the rest. 1603 in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. I. 31 The man that teichis me to vret. 1640 Sir W. Mure Covnter-Bvff 52 A schollar..A pasquill did against his Countrey wreat. 1699 Seafield's Lett. (1912) 256, I have..litell to wret. 1705 Ibid. (1915) 46 He layes it on me to wreat. 1859 E. B. Ramsay Remin. v. (ed. 5) 99 To write.., in old-fashioned Scotch pronunciation..[is] to wireete. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlix, Ye'll jist vreet aff at ance. 1914 Angus Shetland Gloss. 158 Wret,..to write; p.t. and pa.p. wret. |
| δ 1564 Q. Mary in Reg. Privy Council Scot. XIV. 201 We ar movit..to wrait this present unto you. 1580 Hay in Cath. Tractates (S.T.S.) 68 That quhilk Ihone Caluin wraites in the fourt buik. 1866 Gregor Banffsh. Gloss. 204 Vrait,..to write. |
b. 3rd pers. sing. 1–4 writ, 3 wryt.
| c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 2 Mycel yfel deð se ðe leas writ. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 21 Þe deofel..writ heo [sc. a sin] in his tables. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 245 The Philosophre..Writ and conseileth to a king. |
2. pa. tense. a. sing. (latterly also pl.). (α) 1–6, 9 north. dial. wrat (3 pl. wratenn, 5 whrat, Sc. vrat, wart), 4, 6 wratte; 2, 4– wrate, 5 wraite, Sc. 5–7 wrait, 5 wrayt(e, 6 wraitt, vrait, 9 dial. wraat, wreat.
Since c 1300 chiefly north. and Sc., but also in southern use c 1540–c 1620.
| 743–5 in Earle Land Charters (1888) 42 Wilfrið bisceop he hit wrat. c 1175 Cott. Hom. 235 God þas laȝe..wrate his him self. c 1200 [see B. 4 b]. 13.. Cursor M. 21243 Þe godspel in itali he wratte [Fairf. wrate, rime smate]. c 1375 Ibid. 1470 (Fairf.), Ennoc..wrate [Gött. wrat] sum bokis wiþ his hande. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. vii. 1854 Þis Alexander..Wart [v.r. wrait] til Schir Mathow. 1481 Cely Papers (Camden) 76 The clawys that ȝe whrat of Laysetter. 1585 Whitney Choice Embl. (1586) *4 b, Seneca..wratte lamentable Tragedies. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (1922) 25 Upon a roote of the tree..she wrat this couplet. 1620 T. Peyton Glasse Time i. 51 That sweete Disciple which the Gospell wrate. 1708 Falconer in Hearne Collect. (O.H.S.) II. 130, I wrate once and again. 1824 [Carr] Craven Gloss. 124 Wraat,..wrote. 1828– in Yorks. and Linc. glossaries (wrate). 1894 Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. 799 He wrat him a letter. |
(β) 3–8 wrot, 5–6 wrotte, wrott; 4 wrote, 5 pl. wroten, 6 wroate (wroght); 4–5 wroot, 6 wroott, wrout(e.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 17 Elch of hem wrot [= Lamb. Hom. 75 wrat] his uers. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9281 A fende..wrote alle þat euer þey spake. 13.. K. Alis. 4778 (Laud MS.), He..wroot Alle þise wondres. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 478, I..wrote [v.rr. wroot, wrouȝte, wroȝt] as me mette. c 1420 Wycliffite Bible Acts xv. 23 The apostlis..wroten..greting. ? 1481 Cely Papers (Camden) 202 A letter from you wherin ȝe wrotte for your mone. 1513 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. I. 212 A letter the Swyssers wroott unto me. a 1529 Skelton Ware Hauke 223, I wroute a verse. ? c 1530 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. III. 189 Sythe I last wroght to you. 1557 in Foxe A. & M. (1576) 1891/1 Whether thou wrotest it not. 1590 Tarlton News Purgat. A 2 Virgill after he wrot his Aeneidos, wrote his Culex. 1709 Strype Ann. Ref. I. 246 He wrot to..Cecil to release him. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) VI. 299 A Letter..which thou wrotest. |
(γ) 5–9 (now dial.) writ (6 Sc. vrit), 5–7 writt, (7 ritt), 6–7 writte; 5 wryt, 6 wrytte.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 6585 There as he writ of these worchynges. 1479 Cely Papers (Camden) 15 Ȝe wryt to me a clawys in your letter. 1539 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. II. 152 Yowr Kyng wrytte agaynste Lwtther. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione ii. (1900) 144 A letter which [she] writt unto her lover. 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 226 They writ to all their brethren. 1648–63 [see B. 23 b]. 1666 in 11th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 14, I ritt wonce to you. a 1699 A. Halkett Autobiog. (Camden) 9 My Lord H. writt to my mother. a 1774 Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance (1775) I. 313, I writ to her, she received my letter. 1788 Trifler No. 12. 156 Authors (who writ in the Latin tongue). 1852 Thackeray Esmond ii. i, He writ back a letter. |
(δ) 5–7 write.
| c 1454 Pecock Folewer 7 Þe book which y write in englisch. 1582 R. Robinson tr. Leland's Assertion iii. 5 That Iohn which concerning Arthure write the golden historie. a 1700 [see B. 17]. |
(ε) Sc. 6–7 wreit (vreit), 7 wreitt, wreat, 6 wrett, 6, 9 wret.
| 1549 Compl. Scot. 116 Also he vreit ane lettir. c 1560 [see B. 7 b]. a 1568 Henryson's Sum Practysis 9 (Bann. MS.), The quhilk..ȝe nocht vnderstude, Bot wrett on as ȝe culd. a 1585 Montgomerie Flyting (T.) 645 Witness sum vers he wreit [Harl. MS. wreat]. a 1600 ― Poems (1910) 240 Sant peter wrett ane vþair quhair. 1652 in Spalding Club Misc. I. 45, I wreitt lykewayes to my sone in law to assist him. 1914 [see A. 1 γ]. |
b. pl. α. 1 writon, 3–5 writen (3 Orm. -enn), 4–5 wryten, 5 writun, wrytyn (9 dial. rit'n); 4 write, 5 whryte, Sc. wryt.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xviii. §3 Eac þa ðe hi ymb writon. a 1200 Vices & V. 27 Ðat ðe ure hali faderes..writen. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 85 Yit of that Calistre And Aristotle whylom write To Alisandre, thou schalt wite. c 1450 J. Capgrave St. Gilbert 95 Þei..mor-ouyr wrytyn and sent on-to þe Pope, compleynyng. 14.. Wycliffite Bible Acts xv. 23 The apostlis..wroten [v.rr. wryten, writen, writun]..to hem..greting. 1480 Cely Papers (Camden) 55 Ȝe whryte to howr father that [etc.]. 1887 S. Chesh. Gloss. 86 Wey rit·n,..Yai rit·n,..Dhai rit·n. |
(β) 1 wreotan, -on, 4–5 wreten, wrete.
| 852 in Birch Cartul. II. 58 Her sindan ða naman ðere monna þe þis wreotan & festnedan. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. (1890) 346 Þætte seolfan þa his lareowas æt his muðe wreoton. 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 24 Þe gentil genosophistiens..To þe emperour alixandre here answerus wreten. 1387 Trevisa Higden V. 147 Athanasius..and oþer bisshoppes..wrete for seventy chapitres. c 1440 Wycliffite Bible Acts xv. 23 (MS. Bodl. 277), Þe apostlis..wreten bi þe hondis of hem..greetyng. 1449 Paston Lett. I. 76 Your eronds that ye wrete to me fore. |
c. weak forms. 5 wrytted, pl. writide(n.
| c 1420 Wycliffite Bible 1 Esdr. iv. 6 Thei writiden accusing aȝens the dwellers. Ibid. 8 [They] writen [v.r. writede]..oon epistil. 1449 Paston Lett. I. 88 My cosyn Cler wrytted to me that sche spake with Schrowpe. |
3. pa. pple. a. α. (a) 1 ᵹewriten, 2–3 ȝewriten, 3–5 i-, 4–5 ywriten, 4 ywriton, -ein, 3–4 i-, 5 ywryten, 5–6 -yn. (b) 1–7 writen (1 uuriten, 3 Orm. writenn, 5–6 wirten, 5 -in), 4–5 writene, 4–5, Sc. 6 -in, 5 -yn, -on, -un, 6 Sc. vrityn(e; 4–6 wryten, 4–5 -yn (wyrtyn, 5 Sc. vyrtyn), 5 -un, -on, -ine, Sc. vrytin; 6 wryghten, 6–7 wrighten.
| (a) c 880 in O.E. Texts 452 Ond sio ðis lond ᵹewriten & unbefliten [etc.]. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 11 [It] wes iwriten inne þa table. Ibid., Nu weren þas þreo laȝe ȝe-writen. 13.. K. Alis. 4042 Hit is y-writein. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 174 Wordes i-writen in þe Ewangelye. ? c 1530 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. II. 221 Y wrytyn at Godolphyn. |
| (b) Beowulf 1688 On ðæm wæs or writen fyrn-ᵹewinnes. a 1200 Moral Ode 224 A boken hit [is] writen þer me mei hit reden. a 1400 in Relig. Lyrics 14th C. (1924) 157 Tyl a lettre of loue me lede, Þat was wyrtyn on a wall. a 1447 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 8 Wrytyn..the xij. day of Marche. 1517 Lincoln Wills (Linc. Rec. Soc.) V. 75 The last will..wirten the day a bovesaid. 1552 Office of Augm., Misc. Bk. XLV, No. 147 The daye..aboue wryghten. 1693 Seafield's Lett. (1912) 127 This is wryten in my bed. 1703 Ibid. (1915) 8, I have writen to the Earle. |
(β) 4–5 iwritten, 5 ywrytten, 6 ywritten; 4– written (5–6 writtyn, 5–6, Sc. 7 -in, 7 writt'n), 4–6 wrytten, 5 wryttyn (whryttyn), 5–6 -yne, 9 Sc. vrutten.
| 13.. Cursor M. 6995 In his time war þe fabu[l]s written. 1387 Trevisa Higden VIII. 41 As it is i-written in his lyf. c 1425 Wyntoun Chron. ii. 225 As in þe Bibil wryttyn [v.r. writtin] is. 1481 Cely Papers (Camden) 78, I have whryttyn to yow dyvarys lettyrs. 1562 A. Brooke Romeus & Jul. 711 Ywritten haue I red..There is no better way to fishe. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 71 Things not before discourst or writt'n of. 1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlviii, [How] hisna he vrutten to you? |
(γ) 4–5 iwreten, 5 -yn, ywreten; 4–7 wreten, 4–6 -yn, 5–6 -in, 5 -yne, -on, Sc. 6–7 wreittin (6 vreittin), 7 wreaten, 6 wraitten.
| 1387 Trevisa Higden VII. 79 As þere is wreten in lettres. Ibid. 441 Emerus..had i-wreten and descryved Anselms lyf. 14.. Chaucer's Sec. Nun's T. 91 (Lansd. MS.), Euery where þis wordes al wiþ golde wreten [Camb. MS. i-wretyn] were. 1476 in Cely Papers (Camden) 4 That Thomas Kesten hat ywreten unto me. 1534 Cromwell in Life & Lett. (1902) I. 385 Wretyn at my house. 1581 Excheq. Rolls Scotl. XXI. 421 The landis aboune wreittin. 1664 J. Carstaires Lett. (1846) 109, I have wreaten ane other lyne to the Lord Chancellor. 1685 Seafield's Lett. (1912) 10, I would have wreten to you. 1693 Ibid. 109 [A letter] wreitten to him. |
(δ) 5, Sc. 6 wrettyn, 6 wretten (-on, Sc. -in).
| 1445 Paston Lett. I. 59 Wrettyn in haste, at Norwich. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon cxvi. 407 Letters..wretten on the pament. a 1578 Lindesay (Pitscottie) Chron. Scot. (S.T.S.) II. 50 This letter..[was] wrettin be thir thrie foirsaid personis in all heist. |
(ε) 7 Sc. wraitten.
| a 1614 J. Melvill Diary (Wodrow Soc.) 367, I have wraitten a special treatise thairof. |
b. (α) 3–5 i-, ywrite, ywryte; 3–7, Sc. 8 write (7 wright), 4–6 wryte.
| c 1175 Cott. Hom. 241 Hit is iwrite Nemo [etc.]. c 1200, etc. [see ywrit pa. pple.]. c 1200 Moral Ode 228 (Trin.), A boc hit is write. 13.. Chron. R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1901 Ywrite [v.r. wryte] was lo þis. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. cccxvi, Þe sothe as y fynd yn story y wryte. 1480 Cely Papers (Camden) 43 Wryte at London. 1678 in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 53 Hee has wright my Lord all perticulars. 1682 [see B. 16 a]. 1705 Seafield Lett. (1915) 61 It is write by one I can trust. |
(β) 5 i-, ywritte, 5, 6–7 arch. ywrit; 5–6 writte (5 whritte), 5 wrytte, 5–6 wryt, 6– (now dial. or arch.) writ, 6–7 writt.
| 1422 Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 122 As y fynde writte. 1424 Stonor Papers (Camden) I. 39 I-wrytte at London. 1457 Paston Lett. I. 417 Wryt hastly at London. a 1542 Wyatt in Anglia XVIII. 273 As it is writt. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. x. 19 Her sacred Booke, with bloud ywrit. 1642 H. More Song of Soul i. iii. xxvi, On which..be ywrit These words. 1681 Penn in Pennsylv. Hist. Soc. Mem. (1864) I. 210, I have..writt truth. 1859 Tennyson Elaine 1103 The letter..being writ And folded. |
(γ) 3–5 iwrete, 4–5 ywrete; 4–6 wrete, 7 Sc. wreat(e, wreitt.
| c 1275 Lay. 22981 Þat soþe his iwrete. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2179 Hyt ys seyde þurgh lawe wrete, Þat [etc.]. 1426 Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 10008 The word ywrete in sapyence. a 1529 Skelton Bouge of Court 438 On that sleue these wordes were wrete. 1662 J. Carstaires Lett. (1846) 97, I have wreate a lyne to the Provost in that matter. 1694 Seafield's Lett. (1912) 144 The Secretarys are wreitt to anent it. |
(δ) 5 ywret; 5 wrette, 5, Sc. 9 wret, 5, 7 wrett.
| 1423 in Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. Var. Coll. IV. 83 Y wret at Exeter the day..a bove y sayd. ? 1460 Paston Lett. I. 539 Wret the v. day of Decembre. 1646 Hamilton Papers (Camden) 126 The other was wrett yesternight. 1914 [see A. 1 γ]. |
(ε) 6–8, 9 dial. or illiterate wrote (6 roten), 7 wroate; 6 wrotte, 7 wrott, 7–8 wrot.
| 1565 Stapleton tr. Bede 12 Such thinges as I haue wrote of the most holy father. c 1572 Gascoigne Fruites xcii, When workes of warre are wrotte by such as I. 1637 J. Taylor (Water P.) Drinke D j b, So I..Have wroate a hotchpotch. 1693 Pepys in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden) 212 As had they been wrott on purpose. 1710 Prideaux Orig. Tithes iii. 154 An exhortatory Epistle wrot to him. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Verse, The Books themselves were wrote [1738 written] all running. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxxiv, Has she wrote to me? 1879– in dial. glossaries (Shropsh., Warw., etc.). |
B. Signification. I. trans.
1. † a. To score, outline, or draw the figure of (something); to incise. Obs.
| Beowulf 1688 Hroðgar..hylt sceawode, ealde lafe, on ðæm wæs or writen fyrn-ᵹewinnes. c 897 ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxi. 160 Nim sume tiᵹlan..& writ on hiere ða burᵹ Hierusalem. c 1000 Sax. Leechd. II. 290 Writ þonne þam horse on þam heafde foran cristes mæl. c 1225 Leg. Kath. 190 [She] wrat on hire breoste..þe hali rode taken. c 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 413 Another thing was don there write That semede lyk an Ipocrite. a 1450 Medit. Life & Passion of Christ 1350 Loue þat art so mykel of myȝt, Writ in myn herte þat reuful syȝt. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Dec. 136 By myne eie the Crow his clawe dooth wright. 1590 ― F.Q. ii. viii. 43 Guyons shield..Whereon the Faery Queenes pourtract was writ. |
b. To form (letters, symbols, words, etc.) by carving, engraving, or incision; to trace in or on a hard or plastic surface, esp. with a sharp instrument; to record in this way.
In later use not clearly distinguished from sense 2.
| a 1000 Gnomic Verses 139 Ræd sceal mon secgan, rune writan. c 1000 ælfric Deut. x. 2 Ic write on ðam bredum ða word ðe wæron on ðam ðe ðu ær bræce. c 1175, c 1250 [see table n. 2 a]. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xii. 80 Þorw carectus þat cryst wrot þe iewes knewe hemseluen Gultier..Þan þe woman. c 1400 Mandeville (1839) iii. 17 In the Dust and in the Powder..thei wroot Lettres and Figures with hire Fingres. c 1450 J. Capgrave St. Augustine 25 He took a peyre tables, and wroot in þe wax al his desir. 1535 Coverdale Deut. xxvii. 3 Thou shalt set vp greate stones,..and wryte vpon them all the wordes of this lawe. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 117 Men being first inforced to write their actes..in barkes of trees. 1649 Ogilby tr. Virg., Bucolicks v. 13 I'll try that Song on the green Beech I writ. 1697 J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 77 He made an Epitaph..to be wrote on a stone. 1728 Pope Dunc. iii. 325 On Poets' Tombs see Benson's titles writ. 1781 Cowper Hope 588 Blush, calumny! and write upon his tomb..Thy deep repentance of thy thousand lies. 1831 Sir F. Palgrave Hist. Anglo-Sax. vii. 153 The slips of bamboo upon which the inhabitants..write or scratch their compositions with a bodkin. 1857 F. Locker Lond. Lyrics 51 It was I wrote her name on the sand. |
| fig. and in fig. context. c 1175 Cott. Hom. 235 [Jesus Christ] þe sceolde his aȝen wille..in ure heorte write. a 1300 Cursor M. 25586 Suete iesu!..þi pines in vr hertes write. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems 102 Þy countretayle þey wil shewe, þe skore, In helle or in heuene, wreten trewe. 1599, 1622 [see table n. 2 c]. a 1628 Preston Effectual Faith (1631) 49 It is the Holy Ghost that must write them in your hearts; wee can but write them in your heads. 1653 H. More Antid. Ath. i. ix. 27 When we see writ in our Souls..the Name or rather the Nature and Idea of God. 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Makers Flor. i. 2 The names of the older generations are writ in brass on the glowing walls of the Inferno. |
| transf. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. iii. i. 170 Which of your hands hath not..rear'd aloft the bloody Battleaxe, Writing destruction on the enemies Castle? a 1623 Fletcher Love's Cure i. i, Useless are all words Till you have writ performance with your swords. 1818 Byron Ch. Har. iv. clxxxii, Roll on, thou..dark blue Ocean!.. Time writes no wrinkle on thy azure brow. |
c. fig. to write in the dust, write in or on sand, water, the wind, etc., with reference to absence of abiding record. (See water n. 1 f, and cf. sand n.2 2 c.)
| 1513 More Edw. V (1641) 130 For men use to write an evill turne in marble stone, but a good turne in the dust. 1611–3 [see water n. 1 f]. a 1634 Chapman Revenge for Honour v. ii, Words writ in waters, have more lasting Essence, then our determinations. a 1658 Lovelace Poems (1904) 203 But what women say to kind Lovers, we write in rapid streams and wind. 1795 J. Nott tr. Catullus lxvii. II. 113 What..are woman's vows? Fit to be written but on air, Or on the stream! 1821 Keats in Poet. Wks. (1876) p. xxx, Here lies one whose name was writ in water. 1846 Mrs. Browning Lett. (1899) I. 433, I may say of Henrietta that her only fault is, her virtues being written in water. 1847 J. C. Mangan Poems (1903) 99 Oh! let not your vow Have been written in sand! |
d. transf. To impress or stamp marks indicating (some condition or quality) on, in, or over a person, etc. Freq. in phr. to be (or have) written all over a person.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. iv. ii. 162 There is written in your brow Prouost, honesty and constancie. a 1653 H. Binning Sermon Wks. (1845) 648 Insobriety is written upon many passages of your behaviour. 1682 Dryden Mac Flecknoe 195 A Tun of Man in thy large Bulk is writ. 1854 Thackeray Newcomes xxv, Cook and housekeeper is written on her round face. 1866 Lever Sir B. Fossbrooke I. 78 One on whom Nature had written gentleman. a 1899 in Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 1/2 Duty is written all over him. 1914 ‘I. Hay’ Knight on Wheels (ed. 2) xxix. 292 It must be written all over me if you can spot it... Yes, you are right... I'm in love. 1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway iii. 28 He had horse written all over him. 1979 J. Gardner Nostradamus Traitor vi. 20 One was with her... Had DDR written all over him. |
2. a. To form or delineate (a letter, symbol, ideogram, etc.) on paper or the like with a pen, pencil, etc.; to trace (significant characters) in this manner.
| 743–5 [see A. 2 α]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xvi. 6 Nim þine feðere..& writ fiftiᵹ. c 1200 Ormin Ded. 104 Þatt he An bocstaff write twiȝȝess. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 2527 And he ðat ðise lettres wrot, God him helpe weli mot. c 1300 Havelok 2481 We deme, þat..þare be writen þise leteres: ‘þis is þe swike’ [etc.]. 1387 Trevisa Higden VI. 221 He fonde þre R and þre F i-write. c 1425 Crafte Nombrynge 16 Þat digit þat þou hast y-write. 1521 Barclay Introductory B j, Whan . P . is wryten in the ende of a worde in frenche. 1590 Spenser F.Q. iii. xii. 31 And her before the vile Enchaunter sate, Figuring straunge characters of his art, With liuing bloud he those characters wrate. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World iii. 12 It was as easie..to erre in writing two for sixe and twentie, as for three and twentie. 1647 T. Hill Paul (1648) 15 Some tell us Jeremiah and Zachary written contractively in the Hebrew are the same. 1735 Johnson Lobo's Abyssinia, Voy. i. 4 Unhappily, the Secretary wrote Zeila for Dancala. 1845 Kitto's Cycl. Bibl. Lit. (1849) I. 601 At other times they [sc. hieroglyphics] are phonetic, and written by an alphabet of about 140 letters. 1887 A. J. Ellis in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 381 Some system of writing speech-sounds. |
b. To enter or record (a name) with a pen, etc.; to mention (a person) in this way. Also in fig. context.
| c 1200 Ormin 3554 He shall writenn alle þa Þatt cwemmdenn himm o life Onn eche lifess bokess writt. a 1300 Cursor M. 6889 He..wrat þe nam, and sett to sele. 1387 Trevisa Higden VII. 31 Otho..heet take hym þe names i-wrete of hem þat were gilty. a 1400 in Heath Grocer's Comp. (1869) 41 Plate, Alle these xxij personis before wretyn. a 1450 Medit. Life & Passion of Christ 884 To writon vs in bok þat neuere failes. 1472 in Surtees Misc. (1890) 25 We ordeyn that all vacabondes, bifore writen, kepe gode reule. 1535 Coverdale Isaiah iv. 3 Al soch as are written amonge the lyuynge at Ierusalem. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Inscribo, They write their owne names in the titles of their bookes. 1623 Cockeram ii. s.v., To Write his name to a Band. 1714 Addison Spect., No. 568 ¶3 [He] had written the Names of several Persons..at the Side of every Sin..mentioned by that excellent Author. 1772 R. Fergusson Braid Claith i, To hae your name Wrote in the bonny book of fame. 1827 Keble Chr. Y., St. Barnabas v, Never so blest, as when in Jesus' roll They write some hero-soul. 1885 ‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay v, Glynn took her programme and wrote his own name for several waltzes. |
| fig. 1594 Spenser Amoretti lxxv, My verse..shall..in the heuens wryte your glorious name. 1860 Slang Dict. (ed. 2) 248 To write one's name on a joint, to have the first cut at anything,—leaving sensible traces of one's presence on it. |
3. a. (a) To set down in writing; to express or present (words, etc.) in written form; to pen. Also (b) said of the pen, etc. Occas. in fig. context.
In frequent use from c 1380.
| 832 in O.E. Texts 446 Ic..mid cristes rodetacne ðis festnie & write. 971 Blickl. Hom. 133 Se Halᵹa Gast dihtode ealle þa þing þe haliᵹe men writon. c 1000 ælfric Deut. xxxi. 24 æfter ðam ðe Moyses wrat ðisse æ bebodu. a 1200 St. Marher. 23 Hire bone wes þet ich hit write on bocfelle. c 1275 Passion of our Lord 467 in O.E. Misc. 50 Pilates wrot him seolf a writ al on hying. c 1290 Beket 222 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 113 Þis child..Seruede A borgeys of þe toun, and his a-countes wrot. 1303 [see A. 2 β]. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. i. 174 Þeos beþ wordes i-writen in þe Ewangelye. c 1400 Pety Job 566 in 26 Pol. Poems 139 Who may graunte me thys boone, That my wordes wreten were. 1473 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden) 11 He..wrott in alle his lettres..the yere of his regne. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 2 These instruccyons y{supt} I haue gathered & wryten for you. 1595 Shakes. John iv. i. 37 Can you not reade it? Is it not faire writ? 1667 Milton P.L. xii. 489 A Comforter..the Law of Faith..upon thir hearts shall write. 1681 in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. July (1912) 136 At leasure it may bee written faire in the Booke. 1751 G. Lavington Enthus. Meth. & Papists iii. (1754) 163 His Hand had wrote what was directly contrary to the Dictates of his malicious Mind. 1788 C. Reeve Exiles III. 191, I will get these instructions wrote in a proper form. 1825 J. F. Cooper L. Lincoln III. 258 At the close of his long life, he wrote Gen., Bart., and M.P. after his name. |
| (b) 1883 J. G. Petrie Man. for Type-Writer 4 Machines..which write capitals and small letters. 1897 Strand. Mag. May 593/2 No pen can write, no song sing, and no story tell of half their happiness. |
| fig. 1605 Shakes. Lear v. iii. 35 About it, and write happy when th'hast done. 1637 Rutherford Lett. (1671) 134, I painted a providence of my own, and wrote ease for my self and a peaceable ministery. 1888 Ruskin Præterita III. iv. 159 Mozart's birth wrote the laws of melody for all the world..irrevocably. |
b. To form by painting or the like; to paint.
| a 1400 [see A. 3 a α]. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 54 Alle churches new whytte-lymed, with the commandmenttes wryttyne on the walles. 1561 in Archaeol. (1770) I. 16 To the peynter for wrighting the scripture. 1714 Swift tr. Hor., Sat. ii. 92 The lines Writ underneath the Country Signs. 1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 358 Most mere house⁓painters undertake to paint sign boards..and..write them tolerably well. 1889 Sutherland Sign-Writing i. 1 A man might set out and write a sign in the time. |
† c. To translate into another language. Obs.
| c 1475 Babees Bk. 1 This tretys the whiche I thenke to wryte Out of latyn in-to my comvne langage. |
d. writ (written) large, penned, recorded, or exhibited in large or prominent characters. Chiefly in fig. use. Also in analogous fig. phrases, as writ double, writ small, etc.
| c 1645 Milton Sonn., On new Forcers Consc. 20 New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ Large. 1866 Geo. Eliot F. Holt viii, The man was no more than the boy writ large, with an extensive commentary. 1868 Farrar Silence & V. iii. (1875) 56 Let us look beyond them, and see it writ large upon the history of nations. 1877 L. Morris Epic Hades ii. 117 That my life..Was but a tale Writ large by Zeus. 1951 E. Barker Princ. Social & Political Theory i. 39 Corporativism may be defined as syndicalism writ double. 1959 Times 25 Feb. 11/2 This year's Defence White Paper..is last year's writ quietly. 1961 Observer 23 Apr. 5/2 In a curious way he's [sc. Sir Isaac Hayward's] an amalgam, writ small, of Attlee, Morrison and Bevin. 1967 Listener 8 June 762/1 J. P. Donleavy's The Saddest Summer of Samuel S. is just The Ginger Man writ smaller and smaller. |
e. Of a manuscript, etc.: To bear or exhibit in writing.
| 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. iii. 145 Whose Chronicle thus writ, The man was Noble. 1712 Addison Spect. No. 470 ¶1, I have..been informed, that such or such Ancient Manuscripts for an et write an ac. |
† f. To employ in dating. Obs.
| 1651 J. Marius Adv. Bills of Exchange (1700) 13 At Hamborough and Strasburg..they do write the same stile with us here in England, namely old stile; but in all other parts beyond the Seas..they do generally write new stile. |
g. To print by means of a typewriter; to typewrite; = type v. 4.
| 1883 J. G. Petrie Man. for Type-Writer 3 Writing and re-writing familiar words until the fingers run easily. |
h. Computers. To enter (an item of data) in, into, on, or to a storage medium (esp. a disc or tape) or a location in store; to enter data in or on (a storage medium). Also absol. Cf. to read in s.v. read v. 6 f.
| 1946 Goldstine & von Neumann in J. von Neumann Coll. Wks. (1963) V. 28 In ‘writing’ a word into the memory, it is similarly not only the time effectively consumed in ‘writing’ which matters, but also the time needed to ‘find’ the specified location in the memory. Ibid., A number that is to be written, i.e. stored, has to be placed at a definite, possibly inconvenient place in the memory. 1948 Math. Tables & Other Aids to Computation III. 123 The machines will be able to read from, or write on, the tapes. 1953 B. V. Bowden Faster than Thought iv. 95 He proposed to make it impossible to write into a store unless it contained zero. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. IV. 188/1 The store instruction selects an address through the selection circuit for writing the contents of the accumulator in the memory location specified. 1970 [see read v. 5 h]. 1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. iv. 161 A typical large computer system has many readers and printers... Usually several different jobs are being read and several different outputs are being written at the same time. 1980 Sci. Amer. Aug. 114/1 The head that writes the data can also be used to read it. 1980 S. Hockey Guide Computer Applications in Humanities ii. 28 Information can only be written to the tape when this ring is in place. |
i. Of a recording device: to produce (a graphical record).
| 1949 [see mareogram]. 1975 Nature 6 Feb. 423/1 Our predicted signals do not resemble those of typical creep events as written by creepmeters. |
j. To sit or take (a written examination). Chiefly S. Afr.
| 1958 Cape Argus 7 Nov. 3/3 Several women attended the course but Miss―was the only one to write the course examinations. 1971 Sunday Express (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. (Home Jrnl.) 14/2 My daughter is writing Matric this year. 1974 Advocate-News (Barbados) 19 Feb. 1/1 Students from Government primary schools will now write the Common Entrance Examination at their respective schools. |
4. a. To state or relate in writing; to draw up or frame a written statement of (circumstances, events, etc.); to chronicle or make a record of. Also with to, unto (a person), or indirect personal object.
In very frequent use from c 1300.
| c 900 Bæda's Hist. Pref. (1890) 4 Þæt ic be ðam halᵹan fæder Cuðbyrhte wrat oððe on þysse bec oððe on oðre. a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1086, Fela þinga we maᵹon writan þe on ðam ilcan ᵹeare ᵹewordene wæron. c 1175 [see A. 1 b]. c 1220 Bestiary 695 In boke is ðe turtres lif writen o rime. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 6793 As it is of hire iwrite, & of ire holi fame. a 1300 Cursor M. 17843 We sal yow write..All þat we herd and sagh. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 8970 Þere..Þey dede to wryte yn boke þys chaunce. 1387, 1423 [see A. 3 a, γ, 1 β]. 1448 Paston Lett. I. 71, I wrythe to ȝow the very cause why. 1497 Bp. Alcock Mons Perfect. C j b/2 Cryst cam into y⊇ worlde, as it is wryte. 1559 in T. Wright Q. Eliz. (1838) I. 17 We woll not write it for gospell that their power is so greate. 1568 Hacket tr. Thevet's New found World xxvii. 42 b, There resteth nowe to wright that, the which we haue learned. 1643 Digby Observ. Relig. Med. (1644) 44 To peruse what I have written at full upon this point. 1671 J. Webster Metallogr. i. 12 The Collegium Conimbricense are perswaded that he writ the truth. a 1715 Burnet Own Time (1766) I. 18 Whose life is so curiously writ by Thomas Hubert. 1794 J. H. Moore's Pract. Navig. (ed. 10) 169 Occurrences which are written on the log-board. 1833 Tennyson Dream Fair Women lx, It is written that my race Hew'd Ammon, hip and thigh. 1865 Swinburne Chastelard ii. i. 55 Which alms (Remembering what was writ of Magdalen) I gave not grudging. |
| fig. and transf. a 1225 Ancr. R. 388 He..wrote mid his owune blode saluz to his leofmon. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems xvii. 181 His herte blod wrot oure hele, And Ihesus body, þe parchemyn is. a 1586 Sidney De Mornay v. ¶9 We haue read in nature that there is but one God, as a thing which we finde written euen in the least creatures. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. v. i. 22 That selfe-hand Which writ his Honor in the Acts it did. a 1680 Charnock Attrib. God (1682) 814 Those Testimonies of it [sc. God's patience], which were written in showers, and fruitful seasons. 1781 Cowper Expost. 311 Is adverse providence, when ponder'd well, So dimly writ, or difficult to spell. 1869 Freeman Norm. Conq. III. xiv. 355 The great tale of which it became the theatre is legibly written on its natural features. |
b. With clause as object, either introduced by that, etc., or directly quoted.
| (a) 835 [see A. 1 α]. c 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. (1890) 42 Writeð Eutropius þæt Constantinus se casere wære on Breotone acenned. Ibid. 460 Hi on heora sinoðᵹewrit onᵹeþeoddon, & þus writon betwyh him: Wilfrið [etc.]. c 1200 Ormin (1878) II. 354 Acc hallȝhe weress wratenn uss,..Þatt [etc.]. a 1225 Ancr. R. 42 Leteð writen on one scrowe hwat se ȝe ne kunneð nout. 1390 Gower Conf. I. 4 If noman write hou that it stode. 1455 Paston Lett. I. 348 As ye wrygth they sey now. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 397 A table wherin was wreton wyth letters of gold Passe no further [etc.]. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apoph. 230 Of Pompeius it is writen, that [etc.]. 1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 99 Sum wrytes scottis to eit menis flesche. 1686 Seafield Lett. (1912) 25 They write that..their fleet sailed from the Texel. 1761 L. Morris in Cambrian Reg. (1796) I. 368 The bad sign-painter..was obliged to write over his drawings, this is a horse, this is a cock, &c. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxiv, ‘I shall expect you at half-past five,’ Captain Dobbin wrote. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. vi. 1 One writes, that ‘Other friends remain’. |
| transf. c 1386 Chaucer Man of Law's T. 191 Parauenture in thilke large book Which þat men clipe the heuene ywriten was With sterres..That he for loue sholde han his deeth allas! 1616 T. Scot Philomythie K 8, The stiffe-vdder'd Cow [missing]..the merry milke-maide..by chance, wrot on the ground With milk-white letters where shee would be found. |
c. To convey (tidings, information, etc.) by letter; to send (a message) in writing. Freq. with to or unto, or with dative of person; also with how, that, etc., and clause.
| (a) ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3904 He..wraite vn-to Waynor how the werlde chaungede. 1449 [see A. 2 c]. 1561 T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer ii. (1900) 164 He wrott unto the Duke,..he would [etc.]. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 31 He writes me here, that [etc.]. 1616 R. Cocks Diary (Halk. Soc.) I. 150 They wrot me how the Portingals had 4 gallions. 1685 Evelyn Mrs. Godolphin (1847) 92 She writes me..what conflicts she had endur'd. 1763 Scrofton Indostan (1770) 77 The Colonel..wrote the Soubah, ‘That..their enemies’ [etc.]. 1833 J. H. Newman Lett. (1891) I. 434, I had..written to Rose how we had best start agitating. 1875 B. Meadows Clin. Observ. 69 [She] writes me that she is very much better. |
| (b) 1607 Shakes. Cor. v. vi. 63 Haue you with heede perused What I haue written to you? 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. i. iv. §11 Alexander..writ word to his Mother he had found out [etc.]. 1676 Essex in E. Papers (Camden, 1913) 59 What you say..hath bin writt over hither by divers. 1678 [see A. 3 b α]. 1757 E. Griffith Lett. Henry & Frances (1767) I. 179, I beg you will write me word..whether [etc.]. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1792) III. 159 Your brother writ me an account of your fatal falling away. 1843 Lowe Fishes Madeira I. 101 Mr. Yarrell writes me word that [etc.]. 1850 Miss Mulock Olive xxv, You will..write me word how it looks. |
d. To decree, ordain, or enjoin in writing. Chiefly fig. (of fate).
| 1560 Bible (Genev.) 1 Esdr. vi. 17 King Cyrus wrote that this House shulde be buylt vp. 1675 Dryden Aurengz. i. (1676) 14 'Tis writ in Fate, I can be onely yours. 1842 Borrow Bible in Spain xxxv, ‘It was not so written,’ said Antonio, who..was a fatalist. 1902 ‘Roma White’ Backsheesh xvii. 280 That which is written is written. It is stronger than I. So let it be. |
5. a. To give a written account or enumeration of; to describe or depict in writing.
| c 1000 Three O.E. Prose Texts 2 Ac þa ðing þe me nu in ᵹemynd cumað ærest þa ic þe write. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 19 Ne mai ic þenchen,..ne on boke write, alle ðo pinen of helle. a 1225 Ancr. R. 240 Efter þe urouren þet beoð her iwritene. a 1300 Cursor M. 648 Ne writer nan mai write wit inc þe mikel ioy þat þam es lent. 13.. [see A. 2 β]. 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. xlii. 7 The ȝyuen thing.., and the taken, al diskryue, or wryte. c 1449 Pecock Repr. i. xi. 55 [= Rev. xxii. 18] Putte God upon him the veniauncis writun in this book. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xvii, If I could write the beauty of your eyes. 1608 Topsell Serpents 131 When the Egyptians will write a man eating or at dinner, they paynt a Crocodile gaping. 1636 E. Dacres Machiavel's Disc. Livy II. 545 Things which they have done, that lived in the manner above written. |
b. To treat of (a subject, theme, etc.) in writing.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John i. 45 We ᵹemetton ðone hælend..þone wrat moyses & þa witeᵹan on ðære æ. 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. 152 Those who haue of late daies written the art of musicke. 1711 Felton Dissert. Classics (1718) a 4 b, The Difficulties of writing History. 1737 Pope tr. Hor., Ep. ii. i. 146 Ev'ry flow'ry Courtier writ Romance. 1821 Byron Diary 29 Jan., They talk Dante—write Dante. |
c. To give expression to (one's feelings, thoughts, etc.) by means of writing; to express in written form.
| a 1250 Owl & Night. 1756 Þar he demeþ mony riht dom & diht & wryt [v.r. writ] mony wisdom. 1382 Wyclif Job xiii. 26 Thou writist aȝen me bitternessis. c 1400 26 Pol. Poems xxiv. 146 Lord,..aȝens me þou doest wryte Bitternesse, bote swete is past. 1524 Q. Margaret in Green Lett. (1846) I. 319, I did write my mind plainly to you. 1653 Walton Angler i. 29 God..[allowed] those..to write his holy will in holy writ. 1705 Seafield Lett. (1915) 34, I shall write my thoughts with all freedome. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1768) VII. 76 My heart is full, and I can't help writing my mind. 1798 Nelson in A. Duncan Life (1806) 96 Buonaparte writes his distress for stores. |
6. a. To compose and set down on paper (a literary composition, narrative, verse, etc.); to put into or produce in literary form, to bring out (a book or literary work) as an author; to indite.
In very frequent use from c 1570.
| ? a 900 O.E. Chron. (Parker MS.) an. 84, Her Iohannes..wrat þa boc Apocalipsis. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 55 For alswa god hit bit, and inne þe godspelle þe he writ. c 1200 Vices & Virtues 85 Ðis ic habbe iwriten for ðe te frieurien ðanne ðu niede hafst. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 4124 He [sc. Moses]..wrot an canticle on ðat booc. a 1272 Luue Ron 210 in O.E. Misc. 99 And yeue him god endynge þat haueþ iwryten þis ilke wryt. a 1300 Cursor M. 14399 Vr for-eldres þe bible wrat. c 1330, c 1386 [see style n. 13]. 1390 Gower Conf. Prol. 6 Good is that we also..Do wryte of newe som matiere. c 1450 Myrr. our Ladye i. v. 18 To him that writeth my songe & my praysynge. 1533 Gau Richt Vay 25 Al the buikis..qvhilk..oders cane writ. 1585 [see A. 2 α]. a 1586 Sidney Astr. & Stella Sonn. lviii, In pearcing phrases late The Anatomie of all my woes I wrate. 1608 Willet Hexapla Exod. 257 When Moses writte that storie. 1652 Nicholas Papers (Camden) 311 Pamphlets which..he wrote to persuade those [etc.]. 1702 Addison Dial. Medals (1727) 50 They writ the whole Poem on purpose to abuse some one. 1781 Cowper Let. 12 July, I have writ Charity..as well as I could. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xxxiii, [If] the monks..take not to writing chronicles. 1895 Bookman Oct. 11/2 He is..busy writing the new novel. |
| fig. and transf. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. xciii, The falce hearts history Is writ in moods and frounes and wrinckles strange. 1853 Bagehot Lit. Stud. (1879) I. 142 Marmion was ‘written’ while he [sc. Scott] was galloping on horseback. |
b. With various preps., as against, for or to (or with indirect personal object), of, on, or upon (a subject, person, etc.).
| c 1200 Ormin 5810 [They] writenn off þe Laferrd Crist Goddspell o fowwre bokess. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. x. 169, I wrote hir many bokes. 1481 in W. Blades Caxton (1882) 231 The polytyque book..whiche that Tullius wrote vpon the disputacons. c 1520 M. Nisbet N.T. (S.T.S.) I. 17 It was niedful that it [ante the euangel] war writin alsa aganis heretikis. 1585 Whitney Choice Emblems (1586) Ep. Ded. *4 His priuate bookes he wratte to Traian, of counsell and gouernement. 1685 Waller Div. Poesy i. 17 Verse so designed, on that high subject wrote. 1714 Addison Spect. No. 568 ¶3 Some-body had written a Book against the 'Squire. 1794 A. M. Bennett Ellen II. 47 Volumes wrote on the subject could not do it away. 1820 Q. Mus. Mag. II. 68 The character of the Count [in the opera] has been obviously written for Signor Garcia. 1888 Barrie When a Man's Single xi. 180 Mary Abinger..read them [sc. books] proudly, knowing that they were all written for her. |
c. To compose and set down (music, a melody, etc.) in notes.
| 1672 T. Salmon Ess. Adv. Music Contents, Chap. iv, One who can Sing a Treble part, can immediately Sing that which is written for the Base. 1782 Burney Hist. Mus. II. 566 Such keys as these pieces are written in. 1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 108/1 Airs..written in two parts. 1885 Dict. Nat. Biog. II. 105 [Arne] wrote new music for Addison's opera ‘Rosamond’. |
7. a. To pen (a document, writing, etc.); to put into proper written form; to draft or draw up. Also, to insert (provisions, etc.) into a law, agreement, etc. Also in fig. context.
| 831 [see A. 1 α]. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John xix. 19 Witodlice pilatus wrat ofer-ᵹewrit. c 1200, etc. [see writ n. 1 b, 1 c]. a 1333 W. Herebert in Relig. Lyrics 14th C. (1924) 19 And helpe he wole ich wot, Vor loue þe chartre wrot, þe enke orn of hys wounde. c 1400 Ploughman's Tale iii. 1367 This writing writeth the pellican. 1455 Rolls of Parlt. V. 324/1 The said Officers woll write newe distressez ayenst your Commissioners. 1476 Acta Auditorum (1839) 42/1 Þe hande þat wrate þe said write. 1573 [see A. 1 γ]. 1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharon. iii. i. 252 Where Loves fair hand hath Valours passport wright. a 1703 Burkitt On N.T. Mark xv. 37 The inscription wrote by Pilate over our suffering Saviour. 1751 Smollett Per. Pic. vii, A lawyer..to write her last will. 1876 Swinburne Erechtheus 517, I had made no question of thine eyes or heart, Nor spared to read the scriptures in them writ, Wert thou my son. 1962 Listener 25 Jan. 155/1 All sorts of safeguards have been written into the agreements. 1962 Rep. Comm. Broadcasting 1960 138 in Parl. Papers 1961–2 (Cmnd. 1753) IX. 259 A suitable form of words to this effect should be written into the new Charter. 1967 N.Y. Herald Tribune (International ed.) 11–12 Feb. 3 The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, spelling out procedure for the vice-president to serve as acting president when the president is disabled, was written into law to-day. |
b. To pen (a letter, missive, note, etc.); to communicate with a person by (letter, etc.). Freq. const. to, † unto, or till (now Sc. and north. dial.), or with indirect personal object (cf. 23 b).
Freq. from c 1450. See also billet-doux, chit n.5, letter n.1 4, love-letter, note n.2 16, pistle n. 1.
| c 1000 Three O.E. Prose Texts 1 Alexandres epistoles..þone he wrat & sende to aristotile. a 1300 Cursor M. 5323 Þe king þan did his lettres writte To somond al. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1293 My rede is þis..Þat hastily a letre thow hire write. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1782 Þe lettre þat ys til hym wryte. c 1420 Prose Life Alex. 66 He garte writte anoþer lettre, and sent it to Talyfride. 1513 [see A. 2 a β]. c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) ix. 17 It is þe hairt to quhome ȝe wret The misseif. 1613 J. Saris Voy. Japan (Hakl. Soc.) 94 This daye Mr. Cocks writt me a letter. 1662 [see A. 3 b γ]. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 4 ¶2 Another hath just now writ three Lines to Clarissa. 1802 M. Moore Lascelles II. 126 The young man..writ her a polite note. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xlix, I want you..to write a card for Colonel and Mrs. Crawley. 1891 ‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley iv, I've got..a dozen letters to write for you. |
| fig. 1382 Wyclif 2 Cor. iii. 2 Ȝe ben oure pistle, writun in oure hertis. |
c. To fill in (a cheque, etc.) with writing.
| 1837 Dickens Pickw. liii, Perker wrote a cheque for the whole amount. |
8. a. To describe or designate (a person) by writing to be something; to style, call, or term in writing; to set down in a particular class. Also transf.
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. xxii. 30 Writ this man a bareyn man. ― 1 Macc. viii. 20 For togidre write vs ȝoure felawis and freendis. 1535 Coverdale 1 Macc. x. 65 The kynge..wrote him amonge his chefe frendes. 1565 Cooper s.v. Ascribo, Write or adde me also to be of my brothers opinion. a 1577 Sir T. Smith Commw. Eng. (1640) 61 If one were a Knight, they would write him..Sir John Finch, Knight. 1605 Shakes. Macb. iii. i. 101 Whereby he does receiue Particular addition, from the Bill, That writes them all alike. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone i. i, [That] you will vouchsafe To write me, i' your family. 1611 Bible Jer. xxii. 30 Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childlesse. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Church, Vanitie 6 Heark and beware, lest what you now do measure And write for sweet, prove a most sowre displeasure. 1687 R. L'Estrange Answ. to Dissenter 47 The Author Writes himself a Church-of-England-Man. |
| fig. 1654 Whitlock Zootomia 186 The Invention or Advance of most Arts write [sic] the despised Scholler Creditor. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 758 Haile wedded Love... Farr be it, that I should write thee sin or blame. 1820 Scott Abbot i, One whom Heaven had written childless. 1856–9 Dickens Novels & Tales VI. 59 (Fl.), Nature had writ him villain on his face. |
b. refl. To designate (oneself) by a particular title in documents, letters, etc. Also fig.
| 1533 Bellenden Livy (S.T.S.) II. 81 He..wrate himself consul. a 1548 Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 193 Duke Reiner..writyng hymself kyng of Naples, Scicile, and Jerusalem. 1570 Googe Pop. Kingd. i. (1880) 4 Therefore doth he wright Himselfe as heyre apparent to the Empire. 1648 Milton Observ. Art. Peace Wks. 1851 IV. 567 These write themselves the Presbytery of Belfast. 1678 Black Prince in Harl. Misc. (1809) III. 151 John, duke of Lancaster..wrote himself king of Castile and Leon. 1771 Luckombe Hist. Print. 94 St. Giles's, Cripplegate,..of which church he wrote himself vicar in 1566. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. viii, A man of law, Nichil Novit, writing himself procurator before the Sheriff-court. 1857 Trollope Barchester T. xx, In due process of time he took his degree, and wrote himself B.A. 1880 Ruskin Bible Amiens i. (1884) 3 Why should..a little Frankish maid [sc. Amiens] write herself the sister of Venice? |
| ellipt. 1678 Godolphin Repert. Canon. (1681) 13 The Arch⁓bishop of Canterbury..writes himself Divina Providentia. |
c. to write oneself man, etc.: To arrive at man's (or woman's) estate; to attain manhood, or a specified age. (Cf. 11 b.)
| 1660 Fell Hammond (1661) 3 He grew the Tutor of those who begun to write themselves men. 1663 Head Hic & Ubique iv. ii. 45 Now since I write my self Man, go thy way. 1823 Scott Quentin D. xxiv, Thou wilt be mad with vanity ere thou writest thyself man. 1831 ― Cast. Dang. v, The governor had attained his thirtieth year..and his lieutenant did not yet write himself one-and-twenty. |
d. refl. To name (oneself) in writing; to sign.
| 1821 Scott Kenilw. ix, This same Demetrius, for so he wrote himself when in foreign parts. 1911 Barrie Peter & Wendy v. 80 James Hook, or as he wrote himself, Jas. Hook. |
e. To bring or reduce (a person, etc.) to a specified state by writing. Chiefly refl.
| 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 32 A dire dilemma! either way I'm sped, If foes, they write, if friends, they read me dead. 1736 Gentl. Mag. VI. 662 The Craftsman hath seen better Days; but he has wrote himself into Contempt. 1751 Warburton in Porson's Tracts (1815) 345 note, That no man was ever written out of reputation, but by himself. 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Calais, I had wrote myself pretty well out of conceit with the Desobligeant. 1841 Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. xi, You have..written yourself out of five hundred a-year. 1852 Thorpe Northern Mythol. III. 15 Another, whose cabbages were constantly stolen from his garden, wrote the thief fast from Saturday night till Sunday. 1871 Lytton Coming Race xvii, If we wrote our fingers to the bone, we could not throw any light [etc.]. |
f. To make (one's way) by literary work.
| 1890 T. F. Tout Hist. Eng. 111 Addison wrote his way with his Whig pamphlets to a secretaryship of state. |
9. To spell (a word, name, etc.) in a specified or particular manner in writing.
| c 1200 Ormin Ded. 109 Forr he ne maȝȝ nohht elless Onn Ennglissh writtenn rihht te word. c 1205 Lay. 28869 On feole bocken his nome me swa writeð. 1375 Barbour Bruce x. 748 And for this word scho gert vrit swa, Men wend the Franch-men suld it ta. c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 9 And Varro..wrytes domineis and serveis, for dominis and servis. 1659 Philipott Kent 395/2 Blackmanstone, written Bleachmanstone, that is, Man's bleak Town. 1747 Johnson Plan Eng. Dict., Many words written alike are differently pronounced. 1828 Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 8 In this MS... Virgil is uniformly written Vergil. 1865 Way Promp. Parv. p. lxxiii, The word written according to the orthography of the period. |
10. a. To carve, grave, or trace letters or words on (a hard or plastic surface). Also fig.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3613 Oðere tables he broȝte eft writen. c 1320 Sir Tristr. 2040 Bi water he sent adoun Liȝt linden spon. He wrot hem al wiþ roun. 1382 Wyclif Exod. xxxi. 18 The Lord ȝaf to Moyses..two stonen tablis of witnessyng, writun with the fyngre of God. a 1450 Medit. Life & Passion of Christ 883 He wrot his body wiþ harde nailes. Ibid. 1190 Strong was þy pyne þe to wyte His fayre forhed with þornes wryte. c 1822 Beddoes Poems, Pygmalion 157 Writing the sand Idly, he paused. |
b. To cover, fill, or mark (a paper, etc.) with writing; to trace significant characters on (a surface, etc.).
| a 1240 in O.E. Hom. I. 249 Euch an [sc. devil] bereð a gret boc al of sunnen iwriten wið swarte smeale leattres. 1382 Wyclif Ezek. ii. 9 A boke.., the which was writen withinforth and withoutforth. c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 175 Wyde wyndowes y-wrouȝt y-written full þikke, Schynen wiþ schapen scheldes to schewen aboute. 1448 Anc. Deed C. 5103 in Catal. VI. 173 A large roll of parchemyn wretyn and lympned with certeyn maters. 1471 Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 5 Aftyr that y had made and wretyn a fyve or six quayers. 1530 Palsgr. 499/1 Correcte this boke, it is falce written. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado ii. iii. 138 Till she haue writ a sheet of paper. 1739 Wks. Learned I. 103 That the Leaves of these two great Poets were wrote at Random. 1833 Mrs. Stowe in Life (1889) 70 The envelope was written in a scrawny, scrawly, gentleman's hand. 1853 Rock Ch. of Fathers (1903) IV. 87 A small strip of vellum written with the following translation. |
11. a. To employ, or be able to employ, (a particular language) in writing.
| c 1320 Cast. Love 24 Ne mowe we alle Latin wite, Ne Ebreu ne Gru þat beþ i-write. 1521 A. Barclay (title), The Introductory to wryte, and to pronounce Frenche. 1582 Mulcaster Elementarie (1925) 59 Such people, as teach childern to read and write English. 1664 Dryden Rival Ladies Ep. Ded. ¶4, I have endeavoured to write English, as near [etc.]. 1757 tr. Keysler's Trav. (ed. 2) IV. 28 Charles VI..speaks and writes Latin, Italian, Spanish, and French. 1845 M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 13 The Latin which Gregory writes is..his native tongue. |
b. To employ (a name, word, etc.) in designating oneself; esp. † to write man, = 8 c.
| (a) 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, iv. vii. 74 The Turke, that two and fifty kingdoms hath, Writes not so tedious a Stile as this. 1599 ― Much Ado v. i. 37 How euer they haue writ the stile of gods. |
| (b) 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. ii. 30 As if he had writ man euer since his Father was a Batchellour. 1601 etc. [see man n.1 4 c]. 1616 B. Jonson Underw., Celebr. Charis i. 3 Though I now write fifty years, I have had, and have my peers. 1672 M. Locke Obs. on Ess. Adv. Mus. 2 When I began to write Man, and had convers'd in the world. a 1766 in Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (ed. 3) I. 38 All mankind is the pupil..of female institution: the daughters till they write women. 1781 C. Johnston Hist. J. Juniper II. 219 Just as I had written man; or..was of age. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xiv, The elder, well-sized, and dark-visaged, may write fifty and five years. |
c. To employ (a particular literary style) in written compositions.
| 1772 R. Fergusson To Mr. R. Fergusson ii, You write sic easy stile and plain,..Nae suth'ron lown dare you disdain. |
12. To execute (a particular style of handwriting).
| 1390– [see hand n. 16]. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 100 Nay, he can..write Court hand. 1631 F. Lenton Charac. C 9, Hee writes a faire hand. 1702 Lond. Gaz. No. 3865/4 Writing a tolerable Clerk's-Hand. 1716 [see Roman a.1 5 b]. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversation 28 Whoe'er writ it, writes a Hand like a Foot. 1766 [see round hand 1]. 1851 H. Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 313/1 He writes a good hand. 1865 Le Fanu Guy Dev. II. 73 What a hand he writes! |
13. = underwrite v.1 2 b.
| 1882 ‘F. Anstey’ Vice Versâ xvi. 298 They talked of ‘risks’, of someone who had only been ‘writing’ a year and was doing seven thousand a week,..and of the uselessness of ‘writing five hundred on everything’. 1931 Times 14 Mar. 12/6 Not all insurance companies have felt justified in writing the risks. 1967 Listener 6 July 14/3 The company was still writing insurance in eleven American states. 1976 Daily Tel. 1 Nov. 16/2 Settlement of any claims will cost up to 50 p.c. more than had been expected when the risk was written. |
II. With advs.
14. write down. a. To put or set down in writing; to commit to, describe or record in, written form; to note or jot down.
| 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iv. 3 Write downe thy mind, bewray thy meaning so. 1611 ― Wint. T. iv. iv. 571 Things knowne betwixt vs three, Ile write you downe. 1682 Rec. Scott. Cloth Manuf. New Mills (S.H.S.) 40 He gives out wool to scrubleing and writes itt down. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 155 ¶2, I will..write down all they say to me. 1751 R. Paltock P. Wilkins I. p. xi, For the Purpose of writing down his Life from his own Mouth. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. xvii, I write down these opinions, not because I believe that [etc.]. 1891 W. Briggs & Bryan Geometry 143 This enables us to write down at once the equation. |
b. With complement. Also fig., and refl.
| 1599 Shakes. Much Ado iv. ii. 78 O that hee were heere to write mee downe an asse! 1602 ― Ham. i. ii. 222 We did thinke it writ downe in our duty To let you know of it. 1854 Lever Dodd Family Abroad xvi. 138 It's like writing yourself down Goth at once to oppose these. 1856 Mrs. Gore Life's Lessons III. 70 Why does not E. H. write himself down M.P. in the new House? |
c. To overcome or suppress, to disparage or depreciate, by writing; to condemn or decry in writing; to write in disparagement of.
| 1726 Swift Let. to Mrs. Howard 17 Nov., However, one thing I was pleased with, that after you had writ [me] down you repented, and writ me up again. 1773 Johnson in Boswell Hebrides 1st Oct., It was said to old Bentley, upon the attacks against him, ‘Why, they'll write you down.’ ‘No, sir,..no man was ever written down but by himself.’ 1798 Monthly Mag. Jan. 49 [Wilkes] actually wrote down at least one administration. 1850 H. Walter Tindale's Answ. More Introd. Notice 2 This effort to write down Tyndale and his labours. 1851 [see 18 e]. 1902 A. Machen in Among my Books 103 That his only object is to write down those tedious romances of chivalry. |
| absol. 1877 Stubbs Med. & Mod. Hist. v. (1886) 110 It seems..that no man's zeal is roused to write unless it is moved by the desire to write down. |
d. refl. To diminish or destroy one's literary reputation by inferior writing.
| 1716 Addison Free-holder No. 40 ¶3 There is not a more melancholy object in the learned world, than a man who has written himself down. 1773 [see prec.]. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas ii. vii. ¶4 He has written himself down at a terrible rate by his last publication. |
e. To reduce (an account, total, assets, etc.) to a lower amount in writing.
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 27 June 6/1 That this, as well as all other similar accounts, should be steadily written down, and finally out of the balance-sheet. 1897 Ibid. 8 Sept. 6/1 The assets have been written down in a drastic manner. |
f. To write (a literary work) in a style adapted to the level of readers of supposedly inferior intelligence or taste. Cf. sense 22 c below.
| 1876 C. M. Yonge Womankind xxviii. 243 Books..which do not dwarf the mind as a series of books written down are apt to do. |
15. write in. To insert (a fact, statement, etc.) in writing; † to inscribe.
| 1382 Wyclif Rev. xxi. 12 It hadde a wal..and in the ȝatis of it twelue aungels, and names writun in. c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ii. xi. 1060 Oþir fenȝheide fabillis sere I wil forber to wryt in heyre. 1463 Bury Wills (Camden) 42 A book of papyr to wryte in expensis. 1863 M. E. Braddon Eleanor's Vict. I. 108 All the great scenes have been written in by him. 1895 Crockett Men of Moss-hags liv. 390 It was a moment's work to write in the other name [on a pardon]. 1903 Athenæum 3 Jan. 10/2 The date is written in by the rubricator. |
b. To send (suggestions, etc.) in written form to an organization. Cf. sense 23 c below.
| 1928 Publishers' Weekly 14 July 183 The customers..were not slow about writing in their suggestions. a 1961 J. Britton in Webster, Teachers are encouraged to write in their requests. |
c. To insert (the name of an unlisted person) on a ballot-paper or the like, as the candidate of one's choice. U.S.
| 1932 Sun (Baltimore) 23 Aug. 2/2 He knew nothing of the circulation of cards in the Middle West urging voters to write in Smith's name on the Presidential ballot. 1944 Greeley (Colorado) Daily Tribune 16 Sept. 2/2, I greatly appreciate the good will expressed and effort expended by the friends who wrote in my name as candidate for County Judge on the Republican primary ballot. 1957 Ann. Reg. 1956 174 Democratic voters ‘wrote in’ their preference for Mr. Stevenson over Senator Kefauver in the proportions of 8 to 5. 1968 New Yorker 9 Mar. 32 You know who I wrote in? You, Earl. |
16. write off. a. To note the deduction of (money) in an account or financial statement; now spec. to record the cancelling of (a sum, as a bad debt, depreciated stock, etc.). Freq. fig., to dismiss from consideration as insignificant or irrelevant.
| 1682 J. Scarlett Exchanges 107 To send the..Bill to the House of the Acceptant, and desire him to order that the Value be write of in Bank. 1752 Beawes Lex Merc. Rediv. 363 Write off from my Bank Book, one hundred and fifty⁓seven Pounds. 1819 Mortimer's Commerc. Dict. (ed. 2) 87 One of the clerks..writes off the sum required. 1891 Law Times XC. 283/2 The company wrote off the loss as a bad debt. |
| fig. 1889 Spectator 21 Sept., China and India being written-off as full of people. 1957 P. Lafitte Person in Psychol. 44 The psychologist..can write off the difficulty as not falling within the scope of scientific method. 1963 L. MacNeice Var Parable (1965) i. 21 A suspension of antipathy towards its author's attitude will give weight to what otherwise might be written off as whimsical. 1973 Times 20 Oct. 18/6 He is part of me and I of him. I find that painful. Perhaps he does too. But we cannot write each other off. 1984 A. Smith Mind v. xv. 297 To cover all possibilities so that the seemingly dead are not written off medically and therefore legally, before their time. 1985 Times 11 Jan. 12/6 All this is part of an exercise..to help girls be more assertive and self-confident about their educational potential: to stop writing themselves off as mere future wives and mothers. |
b. To compose (a letter, etc.) with facility or expedition.
| 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair lxvii, She wrote off a letter to a friend. 1862 ― Philip xxviii, Philip was writing off..one of his grand tirades. 1871 [see A. 1 γ]. |
c. slang (orig. Air Force). To damage beyond repair, wreck (an aeroplane, motor vehicle, etc.).
| [1922 Flight 27 July 423/1 In another way, it may be stated that, should the work of the Committee lead to a reduction by one of the aeroplanes written off per year as a result of crashes, [etc.].] 1931 Ibid. 23 Jan. 80/1 The D.H.37..got down without much damage. The D.H.9.C..was less fortunate, and was written off in a forced landing. 1942 N. Balchin Darkness falls from Air ii. 44 They seemed to be dropping a hell of a lot of stuff... I saw next morning that they'd written off a pub in Notting Hill. 1973 C. Bonington Next Horizon xi. 166 She had crashed the car twice, writing it off completely on the second occasion. 1982 Daily Tel. 27 Oct. 3/6 He..wrecked his lorry and two cars; pulled out in front of a van and wrote that off too. |
17. write out. a. To make a (fair or perfect) transcription or written copy of (something, a rough draft, etc.); to copy out; also, to transcribe in full or detail, as from brief notes or shorthand.
to write out fair, to make a fair copy of.
| 1548 Elyot s.v. Describo, To write out a boke by an other mans copie. 1565 Cooper, Exscribere alicui, to write out the copie of a thyng to one. 1611 Cotgr. s.vv. Copier, Transcrit. a 1700 in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. IX. 336 His Bookes, w[hi]ch she write out and faithfully practised. 1776 Trial Nundocomar 41/1 The writer wrote out a Persian bond. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas vii. xii. ¶5, I..offered to write his memorials out fair. 1877 Smith & Wace's Dict. Chr. Biog. I. 208 Atticus..wrote out his sermons and learnt them by heart. |
b. refl. To exhaust one's resources or stock of ideas by excessive writing; = outwrite v. 3.
| 1817 Blackw. Mag. L. 519/2 We have heard fears expressed, that Miss Edgeworth might have written herself out. 1832 Scott St. Ronan's Introd., The Author had exhausted himself, or, as the technical phrase expresses it, written himself out. 1905 Author 1 Feb. 152 He has written himself out. |
c. To eliminate or contrive the temporary absence of (a character, etc., in a long-running radio or television serial), with the story-line written so as to account for it.
| 1967 Listener 13 Apr. 503/2 That [sc. the Forsyte] Saga is now more than half way through (Saturdays, BBC-2)... Some of the old characters have been written out. 1969 Photoplay Jan. 64/2 Being ‘written out’ of ‘Peyton Place’ is no disgrace. It has happened to other fine players. 1971 O. Norton Corpse-Bird Cries i. 2 You got them to write you out for a bit. 1982 A. Road Dr. Who: Making of TV Series 16/1 Eric Saward was asked..in the course of his story..to ‘write out’ the Doctor's sonic screwdriver. 1984 ‘M. Innes’ Carson's Conspiracy xiv. 149 Appleby took a searching look at her and—as it might be expressed—wrote her out of the story. |
18. write over. a. To write (something) anew or again; to rewrite; = overwrite v. 3, rescribe v. 2.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. ii. 120, I will haue that subiect newly writ ore. 1594 ― Rich. III, iii. vi. 5 Here is the Indictment...; Eleuen houres I haue spent to write it ouer. a 1645 Ld. Napier Mem. (1793) 51 They might gaine some tyme in wreating them [sc. articles of accusation] over to consult vpon the mater. 1711 R. Martin in Burton Life Challoner (1909) I. 32 They spent..two dayes in..writeing over fair all ye answers. 1751 Chatham Lett. Nephew i. i, I am extremely pleased with your translation now it is writ over fair. |
b. To cover the whole or remaining surface of (a book, etc.) with writing; = overwrite v. 1 b.
| 1828 Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 9, I saw MSS. of some of the Codes..written over with monkish commentaries. |
19. write up. a. To put in writing a full account, statement, or record of (something); to give an elaborate description of, describe fully; to pen or write in full or detail.
| c 1425 Wyntoun Cron. ix. ix. 117 (Royal MS.), I wyll noucht wryt wp all That I hawe sene in my tyme fall. 1535 Coverdale Esther xii. 4 Mardocheus wrote vp the same matter. 1592 Timme Ten Eng. Lepers G 3 b, The Divell that playeth host in this worlde..writeth up all in his booke. 1860 Cornh. Mag. II. 750 You will be waited for..by a few of the discontented, and asked to ‘write up’ certain parts, without any reference to your story. 1887 J. Hawthorne Tragic Myst. ii, After interviewing the sentry..they departed to write up the tragedy. |
† b. To enter (a person, his name) in a roll, list, etc.; to enroll; = inscribe v. 1 b. Obs.
| c 1500 Priests of Peebles 277 Thai wryt wp leile and falss,..And dytis þaim vnder a perdoun. 1535 Coverdale 1 Macc. x. 36 There shall xxx. M. also of the Iewes be written vp in the kynges hoost. 1539 Bible (Great) Ps. lxxxvii. 6 The Lorde shall rehearse it, whan he wryteth vp the people. 1666 P. Gordon Diary (Spald. Club) 72 Haveing told where wee were to lodge, they..sent a writer to write up our names. |
c. To form, trace, or place (something) in writing in an elevated position.
| 1535 Coverdale Dan. v. 25 This is the scripture, that is written vp. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, i. i. 169, I will.., ouer the Chayre of State,..Write vp his Title. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxv, Not content vith writin' up ‘Pickwick’ [on the coach-door]. Ibid. lii, I call it a dispensary, and it's alvays writ up so. |
d. To raise or elevate by writing.
| 1751 Warburton Pope's Wks. III. 68 Writers..writing themselves up into the same delusion with their Readers. |
e. To commend (something) to notice or favour by appreciative writing; to laud by way of advertisement.
| 1726 [see sense 14 c]. 1824 Blackw. Mag. XVI. 165 She was never written up, to use the modern technical expression, in the Reviews. 1851 De Quincey Wks. (1863) XII. 21 Byron..wished to write up Pope by way of writing down others. 1893 ‘Q.’ (Quiller Couch) Delect. Duchy 7 I'll go in presently and write up this place. |
f. To bring (a journal, report, etc.) up to date, or to the latest event, fact, or transaction; to complete (some record) in writing.
| 1839 Longfellow Hyperion iii. v, He..writes up the journal neglected for a week or two. 1848 Hannay Biscuits & Grog 19 Now that we..have little to do, suppose we write up our logs? 1900–1 Proc. Univ. Durh. Phil. Soc. II. 3 Even the minutes of the Curators cease to be written up. |
III. intr.
20. To inscribe letters in, on, or upon a hard or plastic surface by scoring, tracing, engraving, etc. Also transf. and in fig. context.
Differing from next chiefly in the specification of the material written on.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John viii. 6 Se hælend abeah nyþer & wrat mid his fingre on þære eorþan. c 1000 ælfric Hom. II. 434 Swilce anes mannes hand writende on ðære healle waᵹe. a 1300 Cursor M. 13729 He stuped dun, and wit his hand He wrat a quil in to þe sand. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. iii. 62, I lere ȝou,..such writynge ȝe leue, To writen in Wyndouwes of ȝoure wel dedes. 1382, 1387 [see table n. 2 b]. a 1450 Medit. Life & Passion of Christ 842 On þi forhed so whit so snow Thow writest with a thorny bow. c 1450 Holland Houlate 206 He couth wryte..With his neb for mistar, Apon the se sand. 1513 Douglas æneid i. vii. 111 The speir ourturnit in the dust did write. 1535 Coverdale Ezek. xxxvii. 16 Take a sticke and wryte vpon it. 1585, 1621 [see style n. 1]. 1674 C. F. Wit at Venture 85 They write in sand when they make oaths. 1706 Stevens Sp. Dict. i. s.v. Escrivir, To write on the Sand, or Water, is to do things to no purpose, as that Writing is immediatly effac'd. 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XVIII. 917/2 The Chinese..wrote or engraved with an iron tool upon thin boards or on bamboo. 1818 [S. Weston] La Scava 31 A great quantity of styles to write with on wax-tablets. 1878 [see style n. 5]. |
| fig. a 1400 Relig. Lyrics 14th C. (1924) 114 Þogh my hert be hard as stone, Ȝit maist þou gostly write þer-on. a 1653 [see writing vbl. n. 7 b]. |
21. a. To engage in, perform the action of, writing (esp. with pen and ink); to produce (a specified kind of) writing.
to write and read: see read v. 15 b.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter xliv. 2 Hreod writ[eres] hreðlice writendes. a 1225 Juliana 79 He þat her least on wrat swa as he cuðe. a 1300 E.E. Psalter xliv. 2 Mi tunge rede-pipe maister⁓writer, Of swiftlike writande be þer. 1382 Wyclif Isaiah viii. 1 Tac to thee a gret boc, and writ it with the poyntel of a man. ? a 1400 R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) II. 828 He bad & wrot & radde & huld godes seruise. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xxxiii. 12 He cowth wryte and reid. c 1524 R. Croke in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. iii. I. 336 Provided that no man may force hym [sc. a pupil] to wryte oonles I be there presente, to dyrecte..his said hande and stile. 1590 P. Bales Writing Schoolemaster (title-p.), The Arte of Brachygraphie: that is, to write as fast as a man speaketh treatably. 1623 Cockeram ii, To Write after a strange manner, in so much as no man can reade it, decipher. 1661 Boyle Style of Script. (1675) 159 We think they write backwards, and they, that we do. 1738 Pope Epil. Sat. ii. 186 Chartres scarce could write or read. 1775 C. Johnston Pilgrim 73 Any one..may write away, without restraint,..whether they can even so much as spell. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth xxx, ‘Do thou write.’ ‘Your Royal Highness forgets,’ said Ramorny, pointing to his mutilated arm. 1864 Burton Scot Abr. i. iii. 148 A fat philosopher sitting writing..with a goose quill. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece 18 Then would they [i.e. the monks] read or write, what long melodious hours! |
| transf. 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 54 The crystyn pepulle wolde wryte dayly..aboute the placys of her herte wyth her fyngur. 1859 FitzGerald Omar li The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ, Moves on. |
b. Said of the writing-pen.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. ii. 191 Deuise Wit, write Pen, for I am for whole volumes in folio. 1733 Pope Hor. Sat. ii. i. 98 Whether the..whiten'd wall provoke the skew'r to write. 1742 Gray Lett. (1900) I. 112 My having at last found a Pen that writes. 1786 S. Taylor Shorthand Writing 98 A steel or a silver one [sc. pen] that will write fine. |
c. To depict on glass, etc.; to paint.
| 1854 Sutherland Sign Writer's Assistant 24 To write, gild and ornament on glass. 1889 ― Sign Writing viii. 10/1 Writing upon the glass. |
d. To print by means of a typewriting machine or the like; to typewrite.
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech. 2677/1 Johnston's apparatus for the blind is to enable them to write by pressure upon letters in the required order. 1883 J. G. Petrie Man. for Type-Writer 3 The learner must be content to write slowly and deliberately at the commencement. |
22. a. To perform the action of composing and putting on paper; to practise literary composition; to engage in authorship or literary work.
In very frequent use from c 1600.
| a 1122 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 963, Ic write & feostniᵹe mid Cristes rodetacne. c 1205 Lay. 41 Þa makede a Frenchis clerc Wace wes ihoten, Þe wel couþe writen. a 1300 Cursor M. 17846 Sundri þai þam fra oþer saite, And aiþer be himseluen wrate. 1387 [see A. 2 b β]. 14.. Wheatley MS. (1921) i. 59 If I write al my lyue I schuld neuer here woo dyscryue. c 1445 Pecock Donet 6 It is honest ynouȝ a man to speke and write aftir oon of þo opyniouns. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 1 b, Therupon I begon after my poore maner to wryte in latyn. 1575 Gascoigne Glasse Govt. iii. ii, To conceive that he spake or wrot like olde Duns or Scotus. 1609 Bible (Douay) Ecclus. xxxviii. comm., S. Paul not only preached, but also writte. 1689 Prior Ep. Fleetw. Shephard 38 He writes well, who writes with Ease. 1749 Smollett Regicide Pref., A gentleman who had wrote for the stage. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 332 Halifax.., from whom Dryden was not ashamed to own that he had learned to write. 1890 Science-Gossip XXVI. 177/1, I am not writing in the dark. |
| fig. 1649 Lovelace Poems (1904) 62 He fights now with her Penne, And she writes with his Sword. |
b. With preps., as about, † be, † o, of (= on), on, upon, † ymb (a matter, subject, etc.); or against, † contrary, to (a person, etc.).
In very frequent use from c 1390.
| c 888 ælfred Boeth. xviii. §3, Swa some swa þa writeras dydon, & eac þa ðe hi ymb writon. 971 Blickl. Hom. 161 Se halᵹa godspellere swa be him wrat. a 1225 Ancr. R. 410 Ȝe habbeð of þeos blissen i-writen on oðer stude. a 1300 Cursor M. 21324 Matheu..o crist manhedes wratte. 1390 Gower Conf. II. 90 Thilke time at Rome also Was Tullius with Cithero, That writen upon Rethorike. Ibid. 91 Among the whiche in Poesie To the lovers Ovide wrot. 1448–9 J. Metham Amoryus & Cl. 524 Qwere he off constellacionnys doth wryght. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxxiv. 22 Sen thir clarkis hes writtin in thair stylis To ȝoungar folk. 1565 Cooper s.v Rescribo, To write contrarie or agaynst olde orations. 1644 [see A. 3 a β]. 1698 Floyer Asthma (1717) p. i, All the Moderns that have Writ on that Subject. 1737 Gentl. Mag. VII. 499/2 Had they wrote against the Ministry, we could have borne it. 1742 Pope Dunc. iv. 252 For thee we..explain a thing till all men doubt it, And write about it, Goddess, and about it. 1819 S. Rogers Human Life Poems (1856) 138 Once in thy mirth thou bad'st me write on thee. 1883 Tylor in Encycl. Brit. XV. 199/1 Cicero writes of them as wise men, augurs, and diviners. |
c. With various qualifications. Esp. as to write down, to adapt one's literary style to the level of readers of supposedly inferior intelligence or taste; freq. const. to. Cf. sense 14 f above.
| c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxxvi, By spirits taught to write, Aboue a mortall pitch. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. I. 114 The fault is most his own who should have writ to the capacity of vulgar Readers. 1692 Dryden St. Euremont's Ess. Pref. iii, His subjects are often great and noble, and then he never fails to write up to them. 1711 Felton Dissert. Classics (1718) 91 It must be our Care to think and write up to the Dignity..of the Things we presume to treat of. 1809 Malkin Gil Blas xi. vii. ¶5, I should be sorry to write down to their comprehension. 1851 Househ. Words 11 Jan. 372/2 Mr. Blackbrook and his disciples are hapless materialists, verse-makers without a sense of the beautiful. They are patronised by those to whom they write down. 1861 J. Pycroft Ways & Words 33 Authors will learn to write down to the lowest standard. 1903 A. Bennett Truth about Author xii. 150, I had entered into a compact with myself that I would never ‘write down’ to the public in a long fiction. 1921 Sci. Amer. Nov. 20/1 The Editor both ‘writes down’ and ‘writes up’... He may translate the Einstein theories into the nontechnical phrases of everyday life. 1944 L. MacNeice Christopher Columbus 9 The inference that to hold the attention..a writer has got to ‘write down’. (By writing down I mean pandering—writing by standards which the writer considers low.) 1960 Guardian 25 Feb. 6/4 English writers seem to write down to their readers and American writers write as if addressing their equals. |
d. To compose music, a melody, etc.
| 1672 M. Locke Obs. Ess. Adv. Mus. 14 Our certain Method of the Scale; which never gives..occasion for..writing in improper Keys. 1782 Burney Hist. Mus. II. 556 The custom..of writing upon a Plain-Song. 1789 Ibid. III. 109 Tallis and Bird had..long accustomed themselves to write for voices. |
23. a. To compose a letter, note, etc.; to communicate information, etc., send word, by writing; to conduct epistolary correspondence. Also with for (a person or thing) or to (do something).
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 244 Whan dereworþe dindimus þe enditinge hurde Of alixandre askinge as he write hadde. c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1298, I kan not trowen þat she wol write a-yen. a 1400–50 Wars Alexander 2431, I wrate to ȝow at me to wayue [v.r. wafe] be ten wyse clerkis. ? 1481 [see A. 2 a β]. 1552 in Feuillerat Revels Edw. VI (1914) 89 Sir wheras you required me to write, for that [etc.]. 1586 Raleigh Let. 29 May, The sider which I wrat to you for. 1626 Bp. R. Montagu in Corr. J. Cosin (Surtees) i. 104, I haue no[t] much newes, nor occasion to write. 1692 Prideaux Lett. (Camden) 158, I have expressly wrot to be informed of it. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 36 Goods, such as the Captain had writ for. 1751 Johnson Rambler No. 171 ¶6, I applied to him by letter, but had no answer. I writ in terms more pressing. a 1842 in Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 318 He wrote to request my aid. 1890 R. C. Lehmann H. Fludyer 31 Tell Mary she hasn't written for an age. |
b. With preps., as to (also unto, till), or indirect personal object (cf. 7 b). Also const. of.
In group (a), freq. from c 1560. In group (b), rare until c 1770; freq. from c 1790; often regarded as commercial or colloquial in U.K.; standard in U.S.
| (a) c 1000 Three O.E. Prose Texts 1 Þa ᵹeþohte ic for þon to þe to writanne. 1382 Wyclif Jude i. 3 Makinge al bisynesse of writinge to ȝou of ȝoure comoun helthe. 1434 Acts Privy Counc. IV. 351 The King hath wirten to þerle of Northumber[land]. c 1470 Henry Wallace xi. 945 Than Eduuard wrayt till Menteth prewalie. 1534 Cromwell in Life & Lett. (1902) I. 394 Wherefore..I..am bold to wryght vnto you. 1648 Gage West Ind. 163, I writ unto my friends. 1663 Chas. II in Cartwright Madame (1894) 136, I writt to you yesterday. 1751 Eliza Heywood Betsy Thoughtless IV. 191 The abbess was wrote to concerning me. 1814 Wellington in Gurw. Desp. (1838) XII. 7 Write to me to General Colville's quarters. 1888 ‘J. S. Winter’ Bootle's Childr. viii, Ferrers wrote to a friend of his at Chertsey. |
| (b) c 1374 Chaucer Troylus v. 1303 Thow hast not wreten here syn þat she wente... Now write here þanne [MS. Gg. to hire]. 1611 Ussher Lett. (1686) 15 Together with..Mr. Cook's Books you wrote me of. 1672 in Camden Soc. Misc. (1881) 13 Being in hast, have not tyme to wright any body else. 1763 E. Carter in Mem. (1808) I. 356, I writ you from Amsterdam. 1795 Nelson in Nicolas Disp. (1845) II. 32 As I write you,..I shall not write Mrs. Nelson this day. a 1800 Pegge Anecd. (1814) 246 Wrote me, and write you, (merchant's language). 1854 Thackeray Newcomes xxxi, Clive..wrote me about the transmogrification of our school⁓fellow. 1864 Newman Apologia vi. 346 When friends wrote me on the subject, I either did not deny or I confessed it. 1891 Harper's Mag. Nov. 840/1 Mr. Adams was another character of whom my host had written me. 1892 G. & W. Grossmith Diary of Nobody iii. 41, I wrote Merton to that effect. 1900 [see phone n.2 and v.]. 1905 H. Ellis Stud. Psychol. Sex IV. 239 She wrote me saying that she could not see me any more. 1922 C. Mackenzie Altar Steps xxiii. 263, I will write you again when I have seen Father Burrowes. 1924 ― Old Men of Sea xi. 175, I shall write Mr. Hibben about that little joke. 1928 D. L. Sayers Ld. Peter views Body iv. 74 He wrote me yesterday and said he'd accidentally left a bag in the cloakroom. 1953 Woodhouse Performing Flea 69 She is going to find out about quarantine and then write me. 1955 J. P. Donleavy Ginger Man xi. 104, I haven't. You can't blame me. I'm sorry I wrote your father. I'm sorry for it. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. b3 (Advt.), For free literature describing the..accommodation..write [address given]. 1973 Black Panther 17 Nov 10/2 It is circulating an impeachment petition nation⁓wide while encouraging all citizens to write their congressmen. 1974 I. Murdoch Sacred & Profane Love Machine 35, I wrote you all about California—quite long letters—about the animals and so on. 1977 I. Shaw Beggarman, Thief i. i. 2 He lives in Chicago now and writes me often. |
c. With advs., as off, over. Also, to write in: (a) Theatr., to send in notice in writing; (b) in gen. use, to send a written comment, request, etc., to an organization. Cf. sense 15 b above.
| 1577 Harrison England iii. i. (1878) ii. 10 He wrote ouer for more of the same fish. 1849 Theatrical Programme & Entr' Acte 23 July 59/2 The time that elapsed between his last application to Drury-lane and his appearance was many months, for he ‘wrote in’, as it is termed from Exeter about the early part of the summer of 1813, acted first in London, January 26th 1814. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho! xv, He wrote off to Frank at Whitehall. 1866 Lever Sir B. Fossbrooke II. 283, I..have written off to Tom Lendrick to come over here with his sister. 1900 Westm. Gaz. 22 Nov. 9/2 The plaintiffs did not ‘write in’ or give notice that they were coming. 1931 Publishers' Weekly 5 Dec. 2471/2 The ‘Brooklyn Eagle’, however, complains bitterly about distribution: ‘About seven hundred readers have written in—ever since that squib of ours appeared..asking where they can put their hands on one.’ 1949 N. Marsh Swing, Brother, Swing ix. 209 It's a mystery, that paper... The types that write in are amazing. 1957 M. McCarthy in New Yorker 23 Mar. 76/2, I wrote in for a Vogue pattern to make a tennis dress. 1972 Listener 28 Dec. 904/3 If anyone else doesn't know.{ddd}write in and I'll explain. 1977 Broadcast 13 June 10/1 The chap who writes in about a programme. |
d. to write home about: see home adv. 7 d.
24. In clauses introduced by as, or with advs., as so, thus.
| 11.. in Eng. Misc. to Furnivall (1901) 91 Swa swa Lycas wrat on his godspelle. a 1300 Cursor M. 11467 For þe prophet had written sua, And said [etc.]. 1375 Barbour Bruce i. 525 Then slayn wes mone thowsand.., As Dares in his buk he wrate. c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 356 Þis Poul.., whan he wroot þus in prisoun to folk to turne hem to Crist. c 1450 J. Capgrave St. Augustine 60 Rith þus he wrot in Latin. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour G iv, It was done as the kynge had wreton. 1538 Starkey England i. iii. 83 Thys hath destroyd more then any pestylens, as Lyuius wrytyth. 1594 H. Willobie Avisa 57 b, He wrate againe so as followeth. 1605 Camden Rem. (Epigr.) 11 To one..he wrighteth thus: Discendi [etc.]. 1696 Seafield's Corr. (1912) 176 For newes, as Sr. James wreits to your Lo[rdshi]pe, ther is non. 1730 A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 95 Thus has one of those foul-mouth'd Poets wrote. 1770 [Dalrymple] Anc. Sc. Poems 310 The Cardinal..writes thus to Cardinal Borromeo, 24th November 1561. 1874 Symonds Sk. Italy & Greece 121 While I am writing thus about the production..of these love-songs. |
25. To follow or practise writing as a profession or occupation; to work as a clerk, amanuensis, or journalist; † Sc. to act as a ‘writer’.
| c 1380 Antecrist in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif (1851) 138 To write to þe kynges seel and hold seculer courtes to byȝe & to selle. 1650 J. Nicoll Diary (Bann. Cl.) 2 Thomas Hunter, wryter,..wes fund giltie of perjurie; and thairfoir wes declaired incapable of wryting or agenting ony bussines. 1853 Dickens Bleak Ho. xx, You might live through it on much worse terms than by writing for Snagsby. 1895 Escott Platform, Press, etc. 281 The Daily News, on which Pigott once wrote. |
26. To spell words in writing; to represent words, etc., orthographically.
| c 1620 A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 7 To wryte orthographicallie ther are to be considered the symbol, the thing symbolized, and their congruence. Ibid. 21, I wald understand quhy they wryte not as they speak. 1704 J. Pitts Acc. Moham. A 4 b, I..writ as near, as I could, to their way of speaking it. |
IV. intr. for pass.
27. a. To be described in writing. rare—1.
| 1827 Lady Morgan Mem. (1862) II. 247 The comfortless, unaccommodating reality of those times which paint and write so well. |
b. To be penned or written. rare—1.
| 1862 O. Cockayne St. Marher. (1866) p. v, The manuscripts..write straight away from end to end of the ruled lines. |
V. 28. Computers. The infin. used attrib. and in Comb. with the sense ‘writing’: write-permit ring (ˈpɜːmɪt), a ring which has to be inserted in the hub of a tape reel before the tape can be written to or erased; write-protect v. trans., to protect (a disc) from accidental writing or erasure, as by removing the cover from a notch in its envelope; also as n. attrib., designating such a notch, etc.
| 1951 Proc. Inst. Electr. Engineers XCVIII. ii. 15/2 A number can be..written in via the ‘write’ terminal. 1958 Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery Feb. 30 In each track, and separated by ·005{pp} from the associated read head, is the ‘write head’. 1961 L. W. Hein Electronic Data Processing for Business v. 77 The reflective spot activates the switch only if the tape unit is in write status, that is, information is being written on the tape. 1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers iv. 78 In the early applications valves were used to supply the relatively large read and write currents. 1965, etc. [see read v. 22]. 1970 A. Chandor Dict. Computers 402 Write permit ring. 1980 C. S. French Computer Sci. xii. 62 Each record is written onto tape in response to a ‘write instruction’. 1980 S. Hockey Guide Computer Applications in Humanities ii. 27 One way of ensuring that this does not happen is to use..a write permit ring, a plastic ring which can be inserted in the back of a tape reel. 1981 Your Computer May-June 100/3 Write protect, to remove the cover from the notch in a floppy disk so that it cannot be written on. 1983 Austral. Personal Computer Aug. 104/2 The only other hole in the disk envelope of importance to the user is the write protect notch... This notch must be covered up by an opaque material to write protect the disk. |
Add: [B.] [I.] [13.] b. Stock Exchange. To make (an option) available for purchase by creating a contract; to enter into (an option contract) with a buyer. orig. U.S.
| 1934 B. Winfield Put & Call Trading Guide i. 1 The difference between the market at the time the option is written and the price at which the writer agrees to buy or sell stock at a later date. 1959 H. Filer Understanding Put & Call Options 119 The amount received for writing the option (premium) constitutes an offset against the amount paid in determining the net cost basis of the security purchased. 1975 Economist 8 Feb. 84/1 Two years of not only writing but actively trading options on 40 leading Wall Street stocks. 1989 European Investor Feb. 70/1 The market maker who wrote you the option could have sold the shares on your behalf and paid you the difference. |
[V.] [28.] write-once, used attrib. to designate an optical storage medium on which data, once written, cannot be modified; cf. WORM s.v. W 3.
| 1980 G. Ammon in Proc. Soc. Photo-Optical Instrum. Engin. CCXXII. 128 The *write-once read-many-times characteristics of today's laser-ablated, thin-metal film disk structures are well suited to data bases that must remain intact for many years. 1983 Austral. Microcomputer Mag. Sept. 79/1 The features which differentiate an optical disk drive from a magnetic-based drive are the optical read/write head and pre-grooved write-once optical media. 1989 New Scientist 22 July 48/1 The industry now reasons it can produce two types of recordable disc; a relatively cheap version for single recordings, the so-called ‘write-once’ discs or CD-Rs, and another for multiple recordings, the erasable discs or CD-Es. |