writing definition | Dictionary.com

writ⋅ing

[rahy-ting]

–noun

1.	the act of a person or thing that writes.

2.	written form: to commit one's thoughts to writing.

3.	that which is written; characters or matter written with a pen or the like: His writing is illegible.

4.	such characters or matter with respect to style, kind, quality, etc.

5.	an inscription.

a letter.

7.	any written or printed paper, as a document or deed.

8.	literary or musical style, form, quality, technique, etc.: Her writing is stilted.

9.	a literary composition or production.

10.	the profession of a writer: He turned to writing at an early age.

11.	the Writings, Hagiographa.

—Idiom

12.	writing on the wall. handwriting (def. 4).

Origin:
1175–1225; ME; see write, -ing ¹

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write

[rahyt]

verb, wrote or (Archaic

) writ; writ⋅ten or (Archaic

) writ; writ⋅ing.

–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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Link To writing

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.

writ·ing (rī'tĭng)

The act of one who writes.
Written form: Put it in writing.
Handwriting; penmanship.
Something written, especially:
1. Meaningful letters or characters that constitute readable matter.
2. A written work, especially a literary composition.
The occupation or style of a writer.
Writings (used with a sing. or pl. verb) Bible The third of the three divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures, composed of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles. See Table at Bible.

Writing

Writ"ing\, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.

2. Anything written or printed; anything expressed in characters or letters; as: (a) Any legal instrument, as a deed, a receipt, a bond, an agreement, or the like. (b) Any written composition; a pamphlet; a work; a literary production; a book; as, the writings of Addison. (c) An inscription.

And Pilate wrote a title . . . And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. --John xix. 19.

3. Handwriting; chirography.

Writing book, a book for practice in penmanship.

Writing desk, a desk with a sloping top for writing upon; also, a case containing writing materials, and used in a similar manner.

Writing lark (Zo["o]l.), the European yellow-hammer; -- so called from the curious irregular lines on its eggs. [Prov. Eng.]

Writing machine. Same as Typewriter.

Writing master, one who teaches the art of penmanship.

Writing obligatory (Law), a bond.

Writing paper, paper intended for writing upon with ink, usually finished with a smooth surface, and sized.

Writing school, a school for instruction in penmanship.

Writing table, a table fitted or used for writing upon.

Language Translation for : writing

Spanish: escritura,

German: die Schrift,

Japanese: 書体

More Translations »

writing

The sale of an option in an opening transaction. The option writer incurs a potential obligation to buy (if a put is written) or to sell (if a call is written) an asset at a particular price.

Writing

The art of writing must have been known in the time of the early Pharaohs. Moses is commanded "to write for a memorial in a book" (Ex. 17:14) a record of the attack of Amalek. Frequent mention is afterwards made of writing (28:11, 21, 29, 36; 31:18; 32:15, 16; 34:1, 28; 39:6, 14, 30). The origin of this art is unknown, but there is reason to conclude that in the age of Moses it was well known. The inspired books of Moses are the most ancient extant writings, although there are written monuments as old as about B.C. 2000. The words expressive of "writing," "book," and "ink," are common to all the branches or dialects of the Semitic language, and hence it has been concluded that this art must have been known to the earliest Semites before they separated into their various tribes, and nations, and families. "The Old Testament and the discoveries of Oriental archaeology alike tell us that the age of the Exodus was throughout the world of Western Asia an age of literature and books, of readers and writers, and that the cities of Palestine were stored with the contemporaneous records of past events inscribed on imperishable clay. They further tell us that the kinsfolk and neighbours of the Israelites were already acquainted with alphabetic writing, that the wanderers in the desert and the tribes of Edom were in contact with the cultured scribes and traders of Ma'in [Southern Arabia], and that the 'house of bondage' from which Israel had escaped was a land where the art of writing was blazoned not only on the temples of the gods, but also on the dwellings of the rich and powerful.", Sayce. (See DEBIR ØT0000995; PHOENICIA.) The "Book of the Dead" was a collection of prayers and formulae, by the use of which the souls of the dead were supposed to attain to rest and peace in the next world. It was composed at various periods from the earliest time to the Persian conquest. It affords an interesting glimpse into the religious life and system of belief among the ancient Egyptians. We learn from it that they believed in the existence of one Supreme Being, the immortality of the soul, judgement after death, and the resurrection of the body. It shows, too, a high state of literary activity in Egypt in the time of Moses. It refers to extensive libraries then existing. That of Ramessium, in Thebes, e.g., built by Rameses II., contained 20,000 books. When the Hebrews entered Canaan it is evident that the art of writing was known to the original inhabitants, as appears, e.g., from the name of the city Debir having been at first Kirjath-sepher, i.e., the "city of the book," or the "book town" (Josh. 10:38; 15:15; Judg. 1:11). The first mention of letter-writing is in the time of David (2 Sam. 11:14, 15). Letters are afterwards frequently spoken of (1 Kings 21:8, 9, 11; 2 Kings 10:1, 3, 6, 7; 19:14; 2 Chr. 21:12-15; 30:1, 6-9, etc.).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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