English Explanatory Dictionary

write

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To form letters, words or symbols on a surface in order to communicate.
To be the author of (a book, article, poem, etc.).
To compose and send written information (to).
To compose and send (written information or a written message, e.g. a letter) to.
To convey a fact to someone via writing.
To show (information, etc) in written form.
To be an author.
To record data mechanically or electronically.
To fill in, to complete using words.
To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave.
To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; often used reflexively.
To sell (an option or other derivative).

noun

The act or style of writing.
The operation of storing data, as in memory or onto disk.

Pronunciation

rīt /ɹaɪt/ [ɹaɪt] /ɹəɪt/ [ɹəɪʔ] [ɹɑjt] [ɹæ̙ːt] [ɹæ̙ːʔ] [ɹʌɪt] [ɹɑɪt] en-us-write.ogg En-uk-to write.ogg

Word forms

write writes writing wrote writ written ywriten no-table-tags glossary writest wrotest writeth

Etymology

From Middle English writen, from Old English wrītan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrītan, from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną (“to carve, write”), from Proto-Indo-European *wrey- (“to rip, tear”). Cognate with West Frisian write (“to wear by rubbing, rip, tear”), Dutch wrijten (“to argue, quarrel”), Middle Low German wrîten (“to scratch, draw, write”) (> Low German wrieten, rieten (“to tear, split”)), German reißen (“to tear, rip”), Norwegian rita (“to rough-sketch, carve, write”), Swedish rita (“to draw, design, delineate, model”), Icelandic rita (“to cut, scratch, write”), German ritzen (“to carve, scratch”), Proto-Slavic *ryti (“to carve, engrave, dig”), Polish ryć (“to engrave, dig”), Czech rýt (“to engrave, dig”). See also rit and rat.

Synonyms

author pen to post store write inscribe scrawl scribble display indicate mark show save sit

Antonyms

load read retrieve

Related words

handwrite

Derived words

bewrite copy-on-write proxy co-write cross write don't forget to write forewrite ghost write ghost-write hand-written inwrite nothing to write home about overwrite read-write rewrite something to write home about teach to read and write that's all she wrote the jokes write themselves to write home about underwrite who writes this stuff write-ahead log write-ahead logging write-around write as separate words write-back writeback write blocker write checks one can't cash write cheques one can't cash write-down write down write for the drawer write head write-in write in write itself write-off write off write-onable write once write once, run anywhere write oneself into a corner write one's own ticket write-only write-only memory write out write over writer write the book write-through write up write-up writing writ large quick-write torn write

Translations

Afrikaans: skryf aan Afrikaans: skryf Arabic: كَاتَبَ Arabic: َأَلَّف Armenian: գրել Bashkir: яҙыу Central Bikol: surat Bulgarian: пиша Bulgarian: съчинявам Czech: napsat Czech: psát Danish: skrive Danish: digte Danish: forfatte Dutch: schrijven (naar) Dutch: schrijven Esperanto: skribi al Esperanto: verki Estonian: kirjutama Finnish: kirjoittaa French: écrire à French: écrire French: rédiger West-Frisian: skriuwe (oan immen) West-Frisian: skriuwer German: schreiben German: verfassen German: texten German: dichten Greek: γράφω Ancient Greek: ἐπιστέλλω Ancient Greek: γράφω Hebrew: כָּתַב Hungarian: ír Hungarian: megír Icelandic: skrifa utan á bréf Icelandic: rithöfundur Indonesian: tulis Irish: scríobh chuig Irish: scríobh Italian: scrivere a Japanese: 書く Kashmiri: لیکھُن Kazakh: жазу Latin: scribo Macedonian: пишува Norwegian Bokmål: skrive Norwegian Nynorsk: skriva Portuguese: escrever Russian: писать Russian: написа́ть Northern Sami: čállit Serbo-Croatian: пи́сати Serbo-Croatian: písati Spanish: escribir a Spanish: escribir Swedish: skriva Walloon: scrire Yucatec Maya: tsʼíibt Ngazidja Comorian: hwandziha Ewe: ŋlɔ

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