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write

v. · n.
US //ˈɹaɪt// UK //ɹˈaɪt// write
Irregular verb past wrote past participle written
  1. 1 to form letters (v.)
    A1 Beginner

    to make letters, numbers, or symbols on a surface like paper or a screen.

    to form characters, symbols, or words on a substrate such as paper or a digital interface.

    Example

    Please write your name at the top of the page.

    Example

    The student wrote the equations on the whiteboard, carefully ensuring each symbol was legible for the rest of the class to follow.
    Pitfall
    I wrote it with a pencil.
    I wrote it in pencil.

    Use 'in' for the medium (ink, pencil, chalk) and 'with' for the specific tool (a pen, a blue marker).

  2. 2 to be an author (v.)
    A1 Beginner

    to create a book, story, poem, or article.

    to compose a literary, artistic, or journalistic work as its author.

    Example

    She wants to write a novel about her travels in Asia.

    Example

    After years of research, the historian finally began to write his definitive biography of the revolutionary leader.
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  1. 3 to send a message (v.)
    A1 Beginner

    to send a letter or email to someone.

    to communicate with someone by sending a written or electronic message.

    Example

    I will write to you as soon as I arrive at the hotel.

    Example

    The manager promised to write the client immediately to clarify the terms of the new agreement.

    Usage

    In British English, you 'write to someone'; in American English, you can simply 'write someone'.
  2. 4 to record data (v.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate Technical Computing

    to save information onto a computer disk or memory.

    to record data onto a storage medium or memory location.

    Example

    The computer is writing the files to the external drive now.

    Example

    The system failed because it could not write the log files to the disk due to insufficient permissions.
  3. 5 to sell an option (v.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Formal Finance

    to sell a financial contract like an option.

    to sell an options contract or other derivative, thereby taking on the obligation to fulfill its terms.

    Example

    He decided to write a covered call option to earn extra income.

    Example

    Institutional investors often write options to hedge their existing portfolios against sudden market volatility.
  4. 6 storing data (n.)
    C1 Advanced Technical Computing

    the act of saving data on a computer.

    the process or operation of recording data to a storage device.

    Example

    The error occurred during a disk write.

    Example

    The application performance was bottlenecked by the high frequency of random writes to the database.
Origin

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, scratch”), Proto-Slavic *ryti (“to carve, engrave, dig”), Polish ryć (“to engrave, dig”), Czech rýt (“to engrave, dig”). See also rit and rat.

Word family
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