writing

[rahy-ting] /ˈraɪ tɪŋ/

noun

the act of a person or thing that writes.

written form:

to commit one's thoughts to writing.

that which is written; characters or matter written with a pen or the like:

His writing is illegible.

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

an inscription.

a letter.

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

literary or musical style, form, quality, technique, etc.:

Her writing is stilted.

a literary composition or production.

10.

the profession of a writer:

He turned to writing at an early age.

11.

the Writings, Hagiographa.

Idioms

12.

writing on the wall. handwriting (def 4).

Origin

1175-1225; Middle English; see write, -ing¹

Related forms

self-writing, adjective

unwriting, adjective

write

[rahyt] /raɪt/

verb (used with object), wrote or (Archaic) writ; written or (Archaic) writ; writing.

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.

to express or communicate in writing; give a written account of.

to fill in the blank spaces of (a printed form) with writing:

to write a check.

to execute or produce by setting down words, figures, etc.:

to write two copies of a letter.

to compose and produce in words or characters duly set down:

to write a letter to a friend.

to produce as author or composer:

to write a sonnet; to write a symphony.

to trace significant characters on, or mark or cover with writing.

to cause to be apparent or unmistakable:

Honesty is written on his face.

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), wrote or (Archaic) writ; written or (Archaic) writ; writing.

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,

to set down in writing; record; note.
to direct one's writing to a less intelligent reader or audience:
He writes down to the public.

19.

write in,

to vote for (a candidate not listed on the ballot) by writing his or her name on the ballot.
to include in or add to a text by writing:
Do not write in corrections on the galley.
to request something by mail:
If interested, please write in for details.

20.

write off,

to cancel an entry in an account, as an unpaid and uncollectable debt.
to regard as worthless, lost, obsolete, etc.; decide to forget:
to write off their bad experience.
to amortize:
The new equipment was written off in three years.

21.

write out,

to put into writing.
to write in full form; state completely.
to exhaust the capacity or resources of by excessive writing:
He's just another author who has written himself out.

22.

write up,

to put into writing, especially in full detail:
Write up a report.
to present to public notice in a written description or account.
Accounting. to make an excessive valuation of (an asset).

Origin

before 900; Middle English writen, Old English wrītan; cognate with Old Saxon wrītan to cut, write, German reissen to tear, draw, Old Norse rīta to score, write

Related forms

miswrite, verb (used with object), miswrote, miswritten, miswriting.

Can be confused

right, rite, wright, write.

Synonyms

6. compose, pen, author, draft, create.

Examples from the web for writing

In composition, writing groups are standard operating procedure.
Indeed, to make a film often entails as much work as writing a journal article.
There is a quality to your writing that reflects a slowness of composition.
By at once dwelling in the mystery and containing it, writing makes life occasionally beautiful, nearly tolerable.
Poor writing is to be expected when students have, or believe they have, no audience to write for.
Be suspicious of all one-sentence injunctions about writing and editing.
The discovery is the third ancient text to emerge from the layers of writing on the much reused pages.
Cheap audio storage combined with searchable audio files could make reading and writing specialties.
Her writing was so surreal and spare, so full of wonder and truth.
Aida got her hands in everything from researching and writing to recipe development and food styling.

British Dictionary definitions for writing

writing

/ˈraɪtɪŋ/

noun

a group of letters or symbols written or marked on a surface as a means of communicating ideas by making each symbol stand for an idea, concept, or thing, by using each symbol to represent a set of sounds grouped into syllables (syllabic writing), or by regarding each symbol as corresponding roughly or exactly to each of the sounds in the language (alphabetic writing) See also ideogram

short for handwriting

anything expressed in letters, esp a literary composition

the work of a writer

literary style, art, or practice

written form: give it to me in writing

(modifier) related to or used in writing: writing ink

writing on the wall, a sign or signs of approaching disaster

Word Origin

sense 8: allusion to Daniel 5:5

write

/raɪt/

verb writes, writing, wrote, written

to draw or mark (symbols, words, etc) on a surface, usually paper, with a pen, pencil, or other instrument

to describe or record (ideas, experiences, etc) in writing

to compose (a letter) to or correspond regularly with (a person, organization, etc)

(transitive; may take a clause as object) to say or communicate by letter: he wrote that he was on his way

(transitive) (informal, mainly US & Canadian) to send a letter to (a person, etc)

to write (words) in cursive as opposed to printed style

(transitive) to be sufficiently familiar with (a specified style, language, etc) to use it in writing

to be the author or composer of (books, music, etc)

(transitive) to fill in the details for (a document, form, etc)

10.

(transitive) to draw up or draft

11.

(transitive) to produce by writing: he wrote ten pages

12.

(transitive) to show clearly: envy was written all over his face

13.

(transitive) to spell, inscribe, or entitle

14.

(transitive) to ordain or prophesy: it is written

15.

(transitive) to sit (an examination)

16.

(intransitive) to produce writing as specified

17.

(computing) to record (data) in a location in a storage device Compare read¹ (sense 16)

18.

(transitive) Compare underwrite (sense 3a)

See also write down, write in, write off, write out, write up

Derived Forms

writable, adjective

Word Origin

Old English wrītan (originally: to scratch runes into bark); related to Old Frisian wrīta, Old Norse rīta, Old High German rīzan (German reissen to tear)

Word Origin and History for writing

"system of human intercommunication by means of conventional visible marks," c.1300, "written characters; words, sentences," verbal noun from write (v.). From late 14c. as "action of composing in characters; craft of writing; one's own handwriting."

write

Old English writan "to score, outline, draw the figure of," later "to set down in writing" (class I strong verb; past tense wrat, past participle writen), from Proto-Germanic *writanan "tear, scratch" (cf. Old Frisian writa "to write," Old Saxon writan "to tear, scratch, write," Old Norse rita "write, scratch, outline," Old High German rizan "to write, scratch, tear," German 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. Latin scribere, Greek grapho, Sanskrit rikh-); a few originally meant "paint" (cf. Gothic meljan, Old Church Slavonic 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 (1680s) originally was from accounting; figurative sense is recorded from 1889. Write-in "unlisted candidate" is recorded from 1932.

writing in the Bible

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.).

Idioms and Phrases with writing

write

also see:

nothing to write home about

also see under:

wrote