write

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make letters, words, or symbols on a surface, usually with a pen or pencil.

   The pupil wrote his name on the paper.

2. 2
   verb

   To send someone a letter, message, or other written information.

   Please write to me when you get there.

3. 3
   verb

   To be the author of a book, article, poem, or other work.

   My uncle writes newspaper articles for The Herald.

4. 4
   verb

   To create the instructions for a computer program; to code.

   They write code faster than anybody else.

Common collocations

• write a book Verb + noun
• write a letter Verb + noun
• write a report Verb + noun
• write a song Verb + noun
• write a story Verb + noun
• write a paper Verb + noun
• write a piece Verb + noun
• write a play Verb + noun

From Middle English writen, from Old English wrītan, from Proto-West Germanic *wrītan, from Proto-Germanic *wrītaną (“to carve, write”), from Proto-Indo-European *wrey- (“to rip, tear”). Cognate with West Frisian write (“to wear by rubbing, rip, tear”), Dutch wrijten (“to argue, quarrel”), Middle Low German wrîten (“to scratch, draw, write”) (> Low German wrieten, rieten (“to tear, split”)), German reißen (“to tear, rip”), Norwegian rita (“to rough-sketch, carve, write”), Swedish rita (“to draw, design, delineate, model”), Icelandic rita (“to cut, scratch, write”), German ritzen (“to carve, sc…

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