write definition | Dictionary.com

write

[rahyt]

verb, wrote or (Archaic

) writ; writ⋅ten or (Archaic

) writ; writ⋅ing.

Use write in a Sentence

–verb (used with object)

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.

–verb (used without object)

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.

—Verb phrases

18.

write down,

a.	to set down in writing; record; note.

b.	to direct one's writing to a less intelligent reader or audience: He writes down to the public.

19.

write in,

a.	to vote for (a candidate not listed on the ballot) by writing his or her name on the ballot.

b.	to include in or add to a text by writing: Do not write in corrections on the galley.

c.	to request something by mail: If interested, please write in for details.

20.

write off,

a.	to cancel an entry in an account, as an unpaid and uncollectable debt.

b.	to regard as worthless, lost, obsolete, etc.; decide to forget: to write off their bad experience.

c.	to amortize: The new equipment was written off in three years.

21.

write out,

a.	to put into writing.

b.	to write in full form; state completely.

c.	to exhaust the capacity or resources of by excessive writing: He's just another author who has written himself out.

22.

write up,

a.	to put into writing, esp. in full detail: Write up a report.

b.	to present to public notice in a written description or account.

c.	Accounting. to make an excessive valuation of (an asset).

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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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write (rīt)

v. wrote (rōt), writ·ten (rĭt'n) also writ (rĭt), writ·ing, writes

v. tr.

1. To form (letters, words, or symbols) on a surface such as paper with an instrument such as a pen.
2. To spell: How do you write your name?
To form (letters or words) in cursive style.
To compose and set down, especially in literary or musical form: write a poem; write a prelude.
To draw up in legal form; draft: write a will.
To fill in or cover with writing: write a check; wrote five pages in an hour.
To express in writing; set down: write one's thoughts.
To communicate by correspondence: wrote that she was planning to visit.
To underwrite, as an insurance policy.
To indicate; mark: "Utter dejection was written on every face" (Winston S. Churchill).
To ordain or prophesy: It was written that the empire would fall.
Computer Science To transfer or copy (information) from memory to a storage device or output device.

v. intr.

To trace or form letters, words, or symbols on paper or another surface.
To produce written material, such as articles or books.
To compose a letter; communicate by mail.
To set down in writing.
To reduce in rank, value, or price.
To disparage in writing.
To write in a conspicuously simple or condescending style: felt he had to write down to his students.
To cast a vote by inserting (a name not listed on a ballot).
To insert in a text or document: wrote in an apology at the end of the note.
To communicate with an organization by mail: write in with a completed entry form.
To reduce to zero the book value of (an asset that has become worthless).
To cancel from accounts as a loss.
To consider as a loss or failure: wrote off the rainy first day of the vacation.
To express or compose in writing: write out a request.
To write in full or expanded form: All abbreviations are to be written out.
To write a report or description of, as for publication.
To bring (a journal, for example) up to date.
To overstate the value of (assets).
To report (someone) in writing, as for breaking the law. wrote him up for speeding.

Phrasal Verb(s):
write down

To set down in writing.
To reduce in rank, value, or price.
To disparage in writing.
To write in a conspicuously simple or condescending style: felt he had to write down to his students.

write in

To cast a vote by inserting (a name not listed on a ballot).
To insert in a text or document: wrote in an apology at the end of the note.
To communicate with an organization by mail: write in with a completed entry form.

write off

To reduce to zero the book value of (an asset that has become worthless).
To cancel from accounts as a loss.
To consider as a loss or failure: wrote off the rainy first day of the vacation.

write out

To express or compose in writing: write out a request.
To write in full or expanded form: All abbreviations are to be written out.

write up

To write a report or description of, as for publication.
To bring (a journal, for example) up to date.
To overstate the value of (assets).
To report (someone) in writing, as for breaking the law. wrote him up for speeding.

Idiom(s):
write (one's) own ticketTo 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 largeSignified, 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.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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.

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.

Language Translation for : write

Spanish: escribir,

German: schreiben,

Japanese: 書く

More Translations »

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.

write
1. Unix's simple talk command and protocol. write has been largely superseded by talk and then irc.
An enhancement, RWP, has been proposed.
2. A simple text editor for Windows.
(1998-04-28)

write

In addition to the idioms beginning with write, also see nothing to write home about. Also see under wrote.

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