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8 dictionary results for: write
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
write
[rahyt] Pronunciation Key verb, wrote or (Archaic
) writ; writ·ten or (Archaic
) writ; writ·ing.
[rahyt] Pronunciation Key verb, wrote or (Archaic
) writ; writ·ten or (Archaic
) writ; writ·ing. –verb (used with object)
–verb (used without object)
—Verb phrases
| 1. | to trace or form (characters, letters, words, etc.) on the surface of some material, as with a pen, pencil, or other instrument or means; inscribe: Write your name on the board. |
| 2. | to express or communicate in writing; give a written account of. |
| 3. | to fill in the blank spaces of (a printed form) with writing: to write a check. |
| 4. | to execute or produce by setting down words, figures, etc.: to write two copies of a letter. |
| 5. | to compose and produce in words or characters duly set down: to write a letter to a friend. |
| 6. | to produce as author or composer: to write a sonnet; to write a symphony. |
| 7. | to trace significant characters on, or mark or cover with writing. |
| 8. | to cause to be apparent or unmistakable: Honesty is written on his face. |
| 9. | Computers. to transfer (information, data, programs, etc.) from storage to secondary storage or an output medium. |
| 10. | Stock Exchange. to sell (options). |
| 11. | to underwrite. |
| 12. | to trace or form characters, words, etc., with a pen, pencil, or other instrument or means, or as a pen or the like does: He writes with a pen. |
| 13. | to write as a profession or occupation: She writes for the Daily Inquirer. |
| 14. | to express ideas in writing. |
| 15. | to write a letter or letters, or communicate by letter: Write if you get work. |
| 16. | to compose or work as a writer or author. |
| 17. | Computers. to write into a secondary storage device or output medium. |
| 18. | write down,
|
| 19. | write in,
|
| 20. | write off,
|
| 21. | write out,
|
| 22. | write up,
|
[Origin: bef. 900; ME writen, OE wrītan; c. OS wrītan to cut, write, G reissen to tear, draw, ON rīta to score, write
]
] —Synonyms 6. compose, pen, author, draft, create.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| write
(rīt) Pronunciation Key
v. wrote (rōt), writ·ten (rĭt'n) also writ (rĭt), writ·ing, writes v. tr.
v. intr.
Phrasal Verb(s): write down
Idiom(s): write (one's) own ticket To set one's own terms or course of action entirely according to one's own needs or wishes: an open-ended and generous scholarship that lets recipients write their own ticket. Idiom(s): writ large Signified, expressed, or embodied in a greater or more prominent magnitude or degree: "The man was no more than the boy writ large" (George Eliot). [Middle English writen, from Old English wrītan.] Word History: Every western Indo-European language except English derives its verb for "to write" from Latin scrībere: écrire in French, escribir in Spanish, scrivere in Italian, scribaim in Old Irish, ysgrifennu in Welsh, skriva in Breton, skrifa in Old Norse, skrive in Danish and Norwegian, skriva in Swedish, schreiben in German, schrijven in Dutch. The Old English verb "to write" is wrītan, from a Germanic root *writ- that derives from an Indo-European root *wreid- meaning "to cut, scratch, tear, sketch an outline." German still retains this meaning in its cognate verb reissen, "to tear." Only Old English employed wrītan to refer to writing, that is, scratching on parchment with a pen. English shows a similar contrariness in its verb read, being almost the only western European language not to derive its verb for that concept from Latin legere. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
write
write
O.E. writan "to score, outline, draw the figure of," later "to set down in writing" (class I strong verb; past tense wrat, pp. writen), from P.Gmc. *writanan "tear, scratch" (cf. O.Fris. writa "to write," O.S. writan "to tear, scratch, write," O.N. rita "write, scratch, outline," O.H.G. rizan "to write, scratch, tear," Ger. reißen "to tear, pull, tug, sketch, draw, design"), outside connections doubtful. Words for "write" in most I.E languages originally mean "carve, scratch, cut" (cf. L. scribere, Gk. grapho, Skt. rikh-); a few originally meant "paint" (cf. Goth. meljan, O.C.S. pisati, and most of the modern Slavic cognates).
"For men use to write an evill turne in marble stone, but a good turne in the dust." [More, 1513]To write (something) off (1682) originally was from accounting; fig. sense is recorded from 1889. Write-in "unlisted candidate" is recorded from 1932.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| write | |
verb | |
| 1. | produce a literary work; "She composed a poem"; "He wrote four novels" |
| 2. | communicate or express by writing; "Please write to me every week" |
| 3. | have (one's written work) issued for publication; "How many books did Georges Simenon write?"; "She published 25 books during her long career" [syn: publish] |
| 4. | communicate (with) in writing; "Write her soon, please!" |
| 5. | communicate by letter; "He wrote that he would be coming soon" |
| 6. | write music; "Beethoven composed nine symphonies" [syn: compose] |
| 7. | mark or trace on a surface; "The artist wrote Chinese characters on a big piece of white paper"; "Russian is written with the Cyrillic alphabet" |
| 8. | record data on a computer; "boot-up instructions are written on the hard disk" |
| 9. | write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word); "He spelled the word wrong in this letter" [syn: spell] |
| 10. | create code, write a computer program; "She writes code faster than anybody else" |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms - Cite This Source - Share This
write
In addition to the idioms beginning with write, also see nothing to write home about. Also see under wrote.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This
write
1.
An enhancement, RWP, has been proposed.
2.
(1998-04-28)
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Write
Write\, v. i. 1. To form characters, letters, or figures, as representative of sounds or ideas; to express words and sentences by written signs. --Chaucer. So it stead you, I will write, Please you command. --Shak. 2. To be regularly employed or occupied in writing, copying, or accounting; to act as clerk or amanuensis; as, he writes in one of the public offices. 3. To frame or combine ideas, and express them in written words; to play the author; to recite or relate in books; to compose. They can write up to the dignity and character of the authors. --Felton. 4. To compose or send letters. He wrote for all the Jews that went out of his realm up into Jewry concerning their freedom. --1 Esdras iv. 49.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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