English

rank|merely|struck|man's|650|write|caught|below|window

Etymology
Old English writan|wrītan, from Proto-Germanic *writanan, possibly from rītsan, rīzan, meaning to scratch or mark. Cognate with Dutch rijten, German ritzen.

Pronunciation
UK & US: AHD|rīt, IPA|/ɹaɪt/, SAMPA|/raIt/
audio|en-us-write.ogg|Audio (US)
Rhymes:English:-aɪt|Rhymes: -aɪt

Homophones
right, rite, wright

Verb
en-verb|writes|writing|wrote or archaic, writ|written

1. To form letters, words or symbols on a surface in order to communicate.

#: The pupil wrote his name on the paper.
#: Your son has been writing on the wall.

1. transitive To be the author of (a book, article, poem, etc.).

#: My uncle writes newspaper articles for The Herald.

1. context|transitive|US To send a letter to.

#: Please write me when you get there.

1. transitive Show facts, to make things clear.

#: The due day of the homework is written in the syllabus.

1. intransitive To form letters, etc., in order to communicate.
2. intransitive To be an author.

#: I write for a living.

1. context|intransitive|computing record data by a machine, especially for spindols.

#: The write speed of the disk is usually lower than the read speed.

Synonyms
(send a letter to): write to (British)

Derived terms
top3
overwrite
rewrite
underwrite
write-in
mid3
write in
write-off
write off<!--verb-->
write out
mid3
writer
write up<!--verb-->
write-up<!--noun-->
writing

Translations
trans-top|to form letters, etc.
Albanian: t-|sq|shkruan|xs=Albanian
Arabic: ARchar|�تب|��ت�ب� (kátaba)
Basque: idatzi
Breton: skriva
Catalan: escriure
Cebuano: sulat
Chinese: 寫, � (xi�)
Croatian: t-|hr|pisati
Czech: t-|cs|psát
Danish: t-|da|skrive
Dutch: t+|nl|schrijven
Esperanto: t+|eo|skribi|xs=Esperanto
Estonian: t-|et|kirjutama
Ewe: �l�
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjoittaa
French: t+|fr|écrire
German: t+|de|schreiben
Greek: t+|el|γ�ά��|sc=Grek (gráfo)
Hebrew: ��ת�� (lihtov)
Hungarian: t+|hu|ír
Icelandic: t+|is|skrifa
Ido: skribar
Irish: t-|ga|scríobh|xs=Irish
Italian: t+|it|scrivere
trans-mid
Japanese: �� (��, kaku)
Korean: �� (sseuda:ko:��|^)
Kurdish: KUchar|��س��
Latin: t-|la|scribere
Latvian: rakstīt
Norwegian: t+|no|skrive
Polish: pisa� impf., napisa� pf.
Portuguese: t+|pt|escrever
Romanian: t+|ro|scrie
Russian: пи�а�� (pisát�)
Slovak: písať
Slovene: t-|sl|pisati
Spanish: t+|es|escribir
Swahili: t-|sw|kuandika|xs=Swahili
Swedish: t+|sv|skriva
Tagalog: sumulat, isulat
Telugu: వ�రాయ� రాయ� (raayu) (1), ర�ి��� (rachiMchu) (2)
Turkish: t+|tr|yazmak
Vietnamese: t+|vi|viết|xs=Vietnamese
trans-bottom

trans-top|to be the author of
Arabic: ARchar|�تب|��ت�ب� (kátaba)
Czech: t-|cs|psát
Danish: skrive, digte, forfatte (usually not used)
Dutch: t+|nl|schrijven
Esperanto: t-|eo|verki|xs=Esperanto
Estonian: t-|et|kirjutama
Ewe: �l�
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjoittaa
French: t+|fr|écrire, t+|fr|rédiger
German: schreiben, verfassen, texten, dichten
Hebrew: ��ת�� (lihtov), ���ר (lehaber)
Icelandic: t+|is|rithöfundur
Irish: t-|ga|scríobh|xs=Irish
trans-mid
Japanese: �� (��, kaku)
Portuguese: t+|pt|escrever
Russian: пи�а�� (pisát�)
Swedish: t+|sv|skriva
trans-bottom

trans-top|to send a letter to
Arabic: ARchar|�تب|��ت�ب� (kátaba)
Czech: t-|cs|napsat
Danish: t-|da|skrive
Dutch: schrijven (naar)
Esperanto: skribi al
Estonian: t-|et|kirjutama
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjoittaa
French: écrire à#French|à
German: t+|de|schreiben
Greek: t+|el|γ�ά��|sc=Grek (gráfo) (+ �ε)
Hebrew: ��ת�� � (lihtov l)
Icelandic: t+|is|skrifa|alt=skrifa utan á bréf
Irish: scríobh chuig
Italian: scrivere a#Italian|a
trans-mid
Japanese: �� (��, kaku)
Portuguese: t+|pt|escrever
Russian: напи�а�� (napisát�)
Spanish: escribir a
Swedish: skriva (till)
trans-bottom

trans-top|to show facts
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjoittaa
trans-mid
Japanese: �� (��, kaku), 示� (shimesu)
trans-bottom

trans-top|to form letters, etc.
Czech: t-|cs|psát
Dutch: schrijven, pennen
Esperanto: t+|eo|skribi|xs=Esperanto
Estonian: t-|et|kirjutama
Ewe: �l�
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjoittaa
French: t+|fr|écrire
German: t+|de|schreiben
Hebrew: ��ת�� (lihtov)
Icelandic: t+|is|skrifa
trans-mid
Japanese: �� (��, kaku), ����� (shitatameru)
Portuguese: t+|pt|escrever
Russian: напи�а�� (napisát�)
Swedish: t+|sv|skriva
trans-bottom

trans-top|to be an author
Czech: t-|cs|psát
Dutch: t+|nl|schrijven
Esperanto: t-|eo|verki|xs=Esperanto
Estonian: kirjanik olema (belles-lettres); literaat olema
Ewe: �l�
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjoittaa
French: t+|fr|écrire
German: schreiben, texten, dichten
Hebrew: ��ת�� (lihtov)
Icelandic: t+|is|rithöfundur
trans-mid
Japanese: �� (��, kaku)
Portuguese: t+|pt|escrever
Russian: пи�а�� (pisát�)
Swedish: skriva, författa (works of fiction)
trans-bottom

trans-top|to record data
Czech: t-|cs|zapisovat
Finnish: t+|fi|kirjoittaa
Icelandic: t+|is|skrifa|alt=skrifa ~ hér sér
trans-mid
Japanese: �込� (����, kakikomu)
Portuguese: t+|pt|escrever
Spanish: t+|es|anotar, t+|es|apuntar
trans-bottom

Translations to be checked
checktrans-top
ttbc|Guaraní: ai (h-) (1)
ttbc|Indonesian: tulis
ttbc|Interlingua: scriber (1, 2)
ttbc|Korean: �� (sseuda:ko:��|^), Hanja: �기�� (pilgihada:ko:�기��|^)
ttbc|Welsh: ysgrifennu
trans-bottom

References
R:Century 1911
R:Webster 1913

Category:100 English basic words
Category:Communication
Category:English irregular verbs

de:write
et:write
el:write
es:write
fr:write
gl:write
ko:write
hi:write
io:write
id:write
it:write
kk:write
ku:write
hu:write
ja:write
pl:write
pt:write
ro:write
simple:write
fi:write
ta:write
te:write
vi:write
tr:write
uk:write
zh:write

• 2007-12-14 18:23 - Tbot - added t for pt

Full Revision History