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writing |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Write \Write\, v. t. [imp. {Wrote}; p. p. {Written}; Archaic imp. & p. p. {Writ}; p. pr & vb n. {Writing}.] [OE. writen, AS wr[=i]tan; originally, to scratch, to score; akin to OS wr[=i]tan to write, to tear, to wound, D. rijten to tear, to rend, G. reissen OHG. r[=i]zan, Icel. r[=i]ta to write, Goth. writs a stroke, dash, letter. Cf {Race} tribe, lineage.] 1. To set down as legible characters; to form the conveyance of meaning; to inscribe on any material by a suitable instrument; as to write the characters called letters; to write figures. 2. To set down for reading; to express in legible or intelligible characters; to inscribe; as to write a deed; to write a bill of divorcement; hence specifically, to set down in an epistle; to communicate by letter. Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to one she loves. --Shak. I chose to write the thing I durst not speak To her I loved. --Prior. 3. Hence to compose or produce, as an author. I purpose to write the history of England from the accession of King James the Second down to a time within the memory of men still living. --Macaulay. 4. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as truth written on the heart. 5. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; -- often used reflexively. He who writes himself by his own inscription is like an ill painter, who by writing on a shapeless picture which he hath drawn, is fain to tell passengers what shape it is which else no man could imagine. --Milton. {To write to}, to communicate by a written document to {Written laws}, laws deriving their force from express legislative enactment, as contradistinguished from unwritten, or common, law. See the Note under {Law}, and {Common law}, under {Common}, a. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Writing \Writ"ing\, n. 1. The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs. 2. Anything written or printed; anything expressed in characters or letters; as: a Any legal instrument, as a deed, a receipt, a bond, an agreement, or the like b Any written composition; a pamphlet; a work a literary production; a book; as the writings of Addison. c An inscription. And Pilate wrote a title . . . And the writing was Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. --John xix. 19. 3. Handwriting; chirography. {Writing book}, a book for practice in penmanship. {Writing desk}, a desk with a sloping top for writing upon also a case containing writing materials, and used in a similar manner. {Writing lark} (Zo["o]l.), the European yellow-hammer; -- so called from the curious irregular lines on its eggs. [Prov. Eng.] {Writing machine}. Same as {Typewriter}. {Writing master}, one who teaches the art of penmanship. {Writing obligatory} (Law), a bond. {Writing paper}, paper intended for writing upon with ink, usually finished with a smooth surface, and sized. {Writing school}, a school for instruction in penmanship. {Writing table}, a table fitted or used for writing upon From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: writing n 1: the act of creating written works "writing was a form of therapy for him"; "it was a matter of disputed authorship" [syn: {authorship}, {composition}, {penning}] 2: reading matter; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect); "the writing in her novels is excellent" [syn: {written material}] 3: (usually plural) the collected work of an author; "the idea occurs with increasing frequency in Hemingway's writings" 4: letters or symbols written or imprinted on a surface; "he turned the paper over so the writing wouldn't show"; "the doctor's writing was illegible" [syn: {symbolic representation}] 5: the activity of putting something in written form: "she did the thinking while he did the writing" From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]: Writing The art of writing must have been known in the time of the early Pharaohs. Moses is commanded "to write for a memorial in a book" (Ex. 17:14) a record of the attack of Amalek. Frequent mention is afterwards made of writing (28:11, 21, 29, 36; 31:18; 32:15, 16; 34:1, 28; 39:6, 14, 30). The origin of this art is unknown, but there is reason to conclude that in the age of Moses it was well known The inspired books of Moses are the most ancient extant writings, although there are written monuments as old as about B.C. 2000. The words expressive of "writing," "book," and "ink," are common to all the branches or dialects of the Semitic language, and hence it has been concluded that this art must have been known to the earliest Semites before they separated into their various tribes, and nations, and families. "The Old Testament and the discoveries of Oriental archaeology alike tell us that the age of the Exodus was throughout the world of Western Asia an age of literature and books, of readers and writers, and that the cities of Palestine were stored with the contemporaneous records of past events inscribed on imperishable clay. They further tell us that the kinsfolk and neighbours of the Israelites were already acquainted with alphabetic writing, that the wanderers in the desert and the tribes of Edom were in contact with the cultured scribes and traders of Ma'in [Southern Arabia], and that the 'house of bondage' from which Israel had escaped was a land where the art of writing was blazoned not only on the temples of the gods, but also on the dwellings of the rich and powerful.", Sayce. (See {DEBIR}; {PHOENICIA}.) The "Book of the Dead" was a collection of prayers and formulae, by the use of which the souls of the dead were supposed to attain to rest and peace in the next world. It was composed at various periods from the earliest time to the Persian conquest. It affords an interesting glimpse into the religious life and system of belief among the ancient Egyptians. We learn from it that they believed in the existence of one Supreme Being the immortality of the soul, judgement after death, and the resurrection of the body. It shows, too a high state of literary activity in Egypt in the time of Moses. It refers to extensive libraries then existing. That of Ramessium in Thebes, e.g., built by Rameses II., contained 20,000 books. When the Hebrews entered Canaan it is evident that the art of writing was known to the original inhabitants, as appears, e.g., from the name of the city Debir having been at first Kirjath-sepher, i.e., the "city of the book," or the "book town" (Josh. 10:38; 15:15; Judg. 1:11). The first mention of letter-writing is in the time of David (2 Sam. 11:14, 15). Letters are afterwards frequently spoken of (1 Kings 21:8, 9, 11; 2 Kings 10:1, 3, 6, 7; 19:14; 2 Chr. 21:12-15; 30:1, 6-9, etc.).
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