write

/ˈɹaɪt/RYT
/ˈɹaɪt/RYT

Meaningto scratch, to carve

Common meaning: to form letters on a surface

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishwritan‘ia. where the figures are letters’sourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishwritensource
  3. Englishwrite‘to form letters on a surface’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English writan ‘to scratch, to carve’.

Did you know (The ancestor of…): our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry WRITE, p. 722 · dictionary scan

Did you know (Writing began as…): our wording, based on Skeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), entry WRITE, p. 722 · dictionary scan; Bosworth & Toller, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary (1898), entry writan, p. 1276 · dictionary scan

Roots

  • writan Old English “to scratch, to carve”

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