writ en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ɹɪt/
Etymology
From Middle English writ, from Old English writ and ġewrit (“writing”), from Proto-Germanic *writą (“fissure, writing”), from Proto-Indo-European *wrey-, *wrī- (“to scratch, carve, ingrave”). Cognate with Scots writ (“writ, writing, handwriting”), Icelandic rit (“writing, writ, literary work, publication”).
Meanings
- (countable) A written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something.
- (Australia, Canada, New-Zealand, UK, countable) A document ordering that an election be conducted.
- (UK, countable) An order issued by the House of Lords summoning peers to the Chamber.
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(uncountable) Authority, power to enforce compliance.
Within Lololand, of course, no Chinese writ runs, no Chinese magistrate holds sway, and the people, more or less divided among themselves, are under the government of their tribal chiefs.
1913, Elizabeth Kimball Kendall, A Wayfarer in China:We can't let them take advantage of the fact that there are so many areas of the world where no one's writ runs.
2009, Stephen Gale et al., The War on Terrorism: 21st-Century Perspectives, Transaction Publishers, →ISBN, page 30:
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(archaic, countable, uncountable) That which is written; writing.
Then to his hands that writ he did betake, / Which he disclosing, red thus, as the paper spake.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 25:These aforementioned three donkeys I hereby order immediately transferred as payment for others herewith received, which shall comprise, by this compensatory writ, full and complete payment thereof.
Part 1 published in 1605, Part 2 in 1615, translated in 2003, Miguel de Cervantes and translated by Edith Grossman, Don Quixote, pages 201-202:Babylon, so much spoken of in Holy Writ
1603, Richard Knolles, The Generall Historie of the Turkes, […], London: […] Adam Islip, →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| writs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Holy Writ · handwrit · writ of right · writ of inquiry · writ of habeas corpus · proverbs should be writ in pairs · drop the writ · writ of execution · writ of attachment · writ of prohibition · writ of privilege · writ-room · writ of summons · prerogative writ · writ of mandamus · barony by writ · writ of assistance
Synonyms
Translations (51)
nl bevelschrift (a written order) · cs písemnost (that which is written) · es decreto judicial (a written order) · bg предписание (a written order) · es auto (a written order) · cs písemný příkaz (a written order) · hi विधि (a written order) · cs pověření (authority, power to enforce compliance) · pt mandado (a written order) · got 𐌱𐍉𐌺𐌰 (that which is written) · bg писание (that which is written) · fr écrit (that which is written) · nl dwangbevel (a written order) · it ingiunzione (a written order) · sv skrift (that which is written) · nl gerechterlijke opdracht (a written order) · ru прика́з (a written order) · hu végzés (a written order) · es orden escrito (a written order) · mi tāmana (a written order) · fr ordonnance (a written order) · quc tz'ib'atalik (that which is written) · de Verfügung (a written order) · pl pismo (that which is written) · ja 令状 (a written order) · es escrito (that which is written) · it scritto (that which is written) · es requerimiento judicial (a written order) · it intimazione (a written order) · pl nakaz sądowy (a written order) · fi oikeuden määräys (a written order) · de Gerichtsurkunde (a written order) · es escripto (that which is written) · cs mandát (authority, power to enforce compliance) · cmn 令狀 /令状 (a written order) · fi kirjoitus (that which is written) · hu bírói végzés (a written order) · es recurso (a written order) · hu hivatalos okirat (a written order) · de Erlaß (a written order) · mi whakahau-ā-pukapuka (a written order) · es orden escripta (a written order) · hu bírósági végzés (a written order) · ko 영장 (a written order) · pt escrito (that which is written) · ru распоряже́ние суда́ (a written order) · sv skrivelse (a written order) · it mandato (a written order) · it ordinanza (a written order) · de Zwangsbefehl (a written order) · bg нареждане (a written order)