Write \Write\, v. t. [imp. Wrote; p. p. Written; Archaic
imp. & p. p. Writ; p. pr. & vb. n. Writing.]
[OE. writen,
AS. wr[=i]tan; originally, to scratch, to score; akin to OS.
wr[=i]tan to write, to tear, to wound, D. rijten to tear, to
rend, G. reissen, OHG. r[=i]zan, Icel. r[=i]ta to write,
Goth. writs a stroke, dash, letter. Cf. Race tribe,
lineage.]
1. To set down, as legible characters; to form the conveyance
of meaning; to inscribe on any material by a suitable
instrument; as, to write the characters called letters; to
write figures.
2. To set down for reading; to express in legible or
intelligible characters; to inscribe; as, to write a deed;
to write a bill of divorcement; hence, specifically, to
set down in an epistle; to communicate by letter.
Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to
one she loves. --Shak.
I chose to write the thing I durst not speak To her
I loved. --Prior.
3. Hence, to compose or produce, as an author.
I purpose to write the history of England from the
accession of King James the Second down to a time
within the memory of men still living. --Macaulay.
4. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as, truth
written on the heart.
5. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own
written testimony; -- often used reflexively.
He who writes himself by his own inscription is like
an ill painter, who, by writing on a shapeless
picture which he hath drawn, is fain to tell
passengers what shape it is, which else no man could
imagine. --Milton.
To write to, to communicate by a written document to.
Written laws, laws deriving their force from express
legislative enactment, as contradistinguished from
unwritten, or common, law. See the Note under Law, and
Common law, under Common, a.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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