Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition


Write

Write

,
Verb.
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.
Shakespeare
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
,
Adj.

Write

,
Verb.
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.
Shakespeare
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.

Webster 1828 Edition


Write

WRITE

,
Verb.
T.
pret. wrote.; pp. writ, written. [L.]
1.
To form by a pen on paper or other material, or by a graver on wood or stone; as, to write the characters called letters; to write figures. We write characters on paper with pen and ink; we write them on stone with a graving tool.
2.
To express by forming letters and words on paper or stone; as, to write a deed; to write a bill of divorcement. The ten commandments were written with the finger of God on tables of stone. Exodus 31.
3.
To engrave. [See the preceding definition.]
4.
To impress durable. Write useful truths on the heart.
5.
To compose or produce, as an author.
6.
To copy; to transcribe.
7.
To communicate by letter.
I chose to write the thing I durst not speak to her I lovd.

WRITE

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To perform the act of forming characters, letters or figures, as representatives of sounds or ideas. Learn to write when young.
2.
To be employed as a clerk or an amanuensis. A writes for B. D writes in one of the public offices.
3.
To play the author; as, he thinks, he speaks, he writes, he sings.
4.
To recite or relate in books. Josephus wrote of the wars of the Jews.
5.
To send letters.
He wrote for all the Jews concerning their freedom.
6.
To call ones self; to be entitled; to use the style of.
Those who began to write themselves men, but thought it no shame to learn.
7.
To compose; to frame or combine ideas and express them in words.
They can write up to the dignity and character of their authors.

Definition 2024


write

write

English

Verb

write (third-person singular simple present writes, present participle writing, simple past wrote or (archaic) writ, past participle written or (archaic) writ)

  1. (transitive, intransitive) To form letters, words or symbols on a surface in order to communicate.
    The pupil wrote his name on the paper.
    Your son has been writing on the wall.
  2. (transitive) To be the author of (a book, article, poem, etc.).
    My uncle writes newspaper articles for The Herald.
    • 1893, Walter Besant, The Ivory Gate, Prologue:
      Thus, when he drew up instructions in lawyer language []; his clerks, however, understood him very well. If he had written a love letter, or a farce, or a ballade, or a story, no one, either clerks, or friends, or compositors, would have understood anything but a word here and a word there.
  3. (transitive) To send written information to.
    (UK) Please write to me when you get there.
    (US) Please write me when you get there.
  4. (transitive) To show (information, etc) in written form.
    The due day of the homework is written in the syllabus.
  5. (intransitive) To be an author.
    I write for a living.
  6. (transitive, computing) To record (data) mechanically or electronically.
    The computer writes to the disk faster than it reads from it.
  7. (transitive, South Africa, Canada, of a form, a document, etc.) To fill in, to complete using words.
    I was very anxious to know my score after I wrote the test.
  8. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave.
    truth written on the heart
  9. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; often used reflexively.
    • John Milton (1608-1674)
      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.
Conjugation

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

write (plural writes)

  1. (computing) The operation of storing data, as in memory or onto disk.
    How many writes per second can this hard disk handle?
    • 2006, MySQL administrator's guide and language reference (page 393)
      In other words, the system can do 1200 reads per second with no writes, the average write is twice as slow as the average read, and the relationship is linear.

References

  • write in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
  • write in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: merely · struck · man's · #650: write · caught · below · window

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