'Writ' definitions:

Definition of 'writ'

From: WordNet
noun
(law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer [syn: writ, judicial writ]

Definition of 'Writ'

From: GCIDE
  • Writ \Writ\, obs.
  • 3d pers. sing. pres. of Write, for writeth. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Writ'

From: GCIDE
  • Writ \Writ\, archaic imp. & p. p. of Write. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Writ'

From: GCIDE
  • Writ \Writ\, n. [AS. writ, gewrit. See Write.] [1913 Webster]
  • 1. That which is written; writing; scripture; -- applied especially to the Scriptures, or the books of the Old and New testaments; as, sacred writ. "Though in Holy Writ not named." --Milton. [1913 Webster]
  • Then to his hands that writ he did betake, Which he disclosing read, thus as the paper spake. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
  • Babylon, so much spoken of in Holy Writ. --Knolles. [1913 Webster]
  • 2. (Law) An instrument in writing, under seal, in an epistolary form, issued from the proper authority, commanding the performance or nonperformance of some act by the person to whom it is directed; as, a writ of entry, of error, of execution, of injunction, of mandamus, of return, of summons, and the like. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: Writs are usually witnessed, or tested, in the name of the chief justice or principal judge of the court out of which they are issued; and those directed to a sheriff, or other ministerial officer, require him to return them on a day specified. In former English law and practice, writs in civil cases were either original or judicial; the former were issued out of the Court of Chancery, under the great seal, for the summoning of a defendant to appear, and were granted before the suit began and in order to begin the same; the latter were issued out of the court where the original was returned, after the suit was begun and during the pendency of it. Tomlins. Brande. Encyc. Brit. The term writ is supposed by Mr. Reeves to have been derived from the fact of these formulae having always been expressed in writing, being, in this respect, distinguished from the other proceedings in the ancient action, which were conducted orally. [1913 Webster]
  • Writ of account, Writ of capias, etc. See under Account, Capias, etc.
  • Service of a writ. See under Service. [1913 Webster]

Definition of 'Writ'

From: GCIDE
  • Write \Write\, v. t. [imp. Wrote; p. p. Written; Archaic imp. & p. p. Writ; p. pr. & vb. n. Writing.] [OE. writen, AS. wr[imac]tan; originally, to scratch, to score; akin to OS. wr[imac]tan to write, to tear, to wound, D. rijten to tear, to rend, G. reissen, OHG. r[imac]zan, Icel. r[imac]ta to write, Goth. writs a stroke, dash, letter. Cf. Race tribe, lineage.] [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to one she loves. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
  • I chose to write the thing I durst not speak To her I loved. --Prior. [1913 Webster]
  • 3. Hence, to compose or produce, as an author. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 4. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as, truth written on the heart. [1913 Webster]
  • 5. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; -- often used reflexively. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]
  • 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. [1913 Webster]

Synonyms of 'writ'

From: Moby Thesaurus

Words containing 'Writ'