Etymologically
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written

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈrɪt.ən/[1]

Etymology

It is the past-participle adjective of write,[2][3] inherited from Middle English writen, also written,[4] inherited from Old English gewriten, the past participle of wrītan (“to score, carve; to write”).[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Composed, recorded or preserved in writing: about 1300[2] or before 1300, when it was also used of laws established by writing.[6]

Semantic evolution

“Inscribed or carved upon” is from about 1440,[6][7] and “covered with writing” from 1580.[6] “Formed with the pen”, of letters, is from 1582[6] or the 1580s.[2] The obsolete written hand was a cursive hand, from 1531.[6] With adverbs, “written about, written down, written up”, it is from 1754,[6] and a writer who is written out has exhausted his creative powers, from about 1911.[6] “Expressed in literary form” is from 1909.[6][7] Collins contrasts the written word with spoken language.[8]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – composed or recorded in writing.[6]
  • c. 1440 – inscribed, carved.[6][7]
  • 1531 – written hand, cursive.[6]
  • 1582 – formed with the pen.[6]
  • 1754 – written down, written up.[6]
  • 1909 – in literary form.[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Set down in writing rather than spoken: written evidence.
  2. Of law, set down in documents or codes.
  3. Covered with writing or inscribed.

Verb

  1. The past participle of write.

Word family

  • ghostwritten
  • typewritten

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b Gove, Philip Babcock, ed. (1961), Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
  8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins