write English · revision 2617

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 725 (Beowulf)|origins=gem-pro *wrītaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /raɪt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|writen]], [[inh|ang|wrītan|t=to score, outline, draw; to write]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) from [[gem-pro|*wrītaną|alt=*wrītan]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) “to tear, scratch”, the source also of Old Saxon wrītan “to tear, scratch, write”, Old Norse [[m|non|ríta|t=to score, write]] and German [[m|de|reißen|t=to tear; to sketch]].^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) Outside connections are doubtful:^(Etymonline) Barnhart and Merriam-Webster compare Greek [[m|grc|ῥίνη|tr=rhínē|t=file, rasp]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) and the American Heritage Dictionary traces the Germanic root to PIE *wreid- “to cut, scratch, tear, sketch an outline”,^(AHD 2000) while Hoad calls it of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Old English wrītan, “to score, draw the figure of”: about 725, in ''Beowulf'';^(Barnhart 1988) “to set down in writing” from 832.^(Barnhart 1988) Word Origins notes that the idea behind the word in Germanic was “to score or carve”, as people in northern Europe first wrote by inscribing letters on wood.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The American Heritage Dictionary notes that every western Indo-European language except English takes its verb for “to write” from Latin scrībere, as French écrire and German schreiben do, and that only Old English used wrītan for scratching on parchment with a pen, and that English is similarly contrary in ''read''.^(AHD 2000) Etymonline notes that the words for “write” in most Indo-European languages first meant “carve, scratch, cut”, like Latin scrībere and Greek graphein.^(Etymonline) “To exchange letters” is by the mid-14th century, and “to communicate in writing” by about 1400.^(Etymonline) ''Writ large'' is from the 1640s.^(Etymonline) ''Nothing to write home about'' appears to have been first used by Ian Hay in 1914, probably from soldiers' slang.^(Cresswell 2021) ''Writer'' is Old English, from before 899.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 725 – to score, draw.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 832 – to set down in writing.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 899 – ''writer''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * mid-14th century – to exchange letters.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1400 – to communicate in writing.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – ''writ large''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – ''nothing to write home about''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To form letters, words or symbols on a surface with a pen or other instrument.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # To compose a text, such as a book, letter or music.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To communicate by letter.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # To fill in or sign a document: ''write a cheque''.^(AHD)

+ # ''(computing)'' To record data in a memory or on a storage device.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[overwrite]]

+ * [[rewrite]]

+ * [[underwrite]]

+ * [[write-down]]

+ * [[write-in]]

+ * [[write-off]]

+ * [[writer]]

+ * [[cowrite]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[writ]]

+ * [[writing]]

+ * [[written]]

+ * [[typewriter]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The past tense is ''wrote'' and the past participle [[written]]; the forms ''writ'' for both are now archaic or dialect.^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986) An obsolete noun ''write'', “writing, Scripture”, was a variant of [[writ]].^(SOED 2002)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}