unwritten

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ʌnˈrɪtən/ UK /ʌnˈrɪtən/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
not recorded in writing; understood without being formally stated

There is an unwritten rule against arriving late.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · not recorded in writing;... tacit implicit unspoken understood traditional oral verbal

Opposites

written recorded explicit documented

Word family

Related forms write writing written

Etymology

From un- ('not') plus written, the past participle of write, from Old English wrītan ('to incise, draw, write'), from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną ('to scratch, carve').

un- Old English wrītan Old English *wrītaną Proto-Germanic

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Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

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# unwritten

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ʌnˈrɪtən/
**IPA (UK):** /ʌnˈrɪtən/

## Meanings
1. not recorded in writing; understood without being formally stated

## Examples
- There is an unwritten rule against arriving late.

## Synonyms
- tacit
- implicit
- unspoken
- understood
- traditional
- oral
- verbal

## Antonyms
- written
- recorded
- explicit
- documented

## Related Forms
- write
- writing
- written

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: un-
- Root: wrītan
- Root: *wrītaną

## Etymology
From un- ('not') plus written, the past participle of write, from Old English wrītan ('to incise, draw, write'), from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną ('to scratch, carve').

## AI Etymology
Unwritten comes from un- ('not') plus written, the past participle of write, from Old English wrītan ('to incise, draw, write'), from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną ('to scratch, carve'). The historical chain includes Old English un-, Old English wrītan, and Proto-Germanic *wrītaną. The quoted older senses, "not", "to incise, draw, write", and "to scratch, carve", supply the semantic anchors for unwritten. The formation is best read as participial and borrowed: the word unwritten carries its older form-history into a compact English lexical shape. In present English it is used as a adj, "not recorded in writing; understood without being formally stated". Related English forms include write, writing, and written. The result is a adj whose etymology preserves both the older form and the later English specialization.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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unwritten

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