Writ

8 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Writ \Writ\, obs.
     3d pers. sing. pres. of {Write}, for writeth. --Chaucer.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  Writ \Writ\, archaic
     imp. & p. p. of {Write}. --Dryden.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Writ \Writ\, n. [AS. writ, gewrit. See {Write}.]
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     1. That which is written; writing; scripture; -- applied
        especially to the Scriptures, or the books of the Old and
        New testaments; as, sacred writ. "Though in Holy Writ not
        named." --Milton.
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              Then to his hands that writ he did betake,
              Which he disclosing read, thus as the paper spake.
                                                    --Spenser.
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              Babylon, so much spoken of in Holy Writ. --Knolles.
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     2. (Law) An instrument in writing, under seal, in an
        epistolary form, issued from the proper authority,
        commanding the performance or nonperformance of some act
        by the person to whom it is directed; as, a writ of entry,
        of error, of execution, of injunction, of mandamus, of
        return, of summons, and the like.
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     Note: Writs are usually witnessed, or tested, in the name of
           the chief justice or principal judge of the court out
           of which they are issued; and those directed to a
           sheriff, or other ministerial officer, require him to
           return them on a day specified. In former English law
           and practice, writs in civil cases were either original
           or judicial; the former were issued out of the Court of
           Chancery, under the great seal, for the summoning of a
           defendant to appear, and were granted before the suit
           began and in order to begin the same; the latter were
           issued out of the court where the original was
           returned, after the suit was begun and during the
           pendency of it. Tomlins. Brande. Encyc. Brit. The term
           writ is supposed by Mr. Reeves to have been derived
           from the fact of these formulae having always been
           expressed in writing, being, in this respect,
           distinguished from the other proceedings in the ancient
           action, which were conducted orally.
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     {Writ of account}, {Writ of capias}, etc. See under
        {Account}, {Capias}, etc.
  
     {Service of a writ}. See under {Service}.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Write \Write\, v. t. [imp. {Wrote}; p. p. {Written}; Archaic
     imp. & p. p. {Writ}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Writing}.] [OE. writen,
     AS. wr[imac]tan; originally, to scratch, to score; akin to
     OS. wr[imac]tan to write, to tear, to wound, D. rijten to
     tear, to rend, G. reissen, OHG. r[imac]zan, Icel. r[imac]ta
     to write, Goth. writs a stroke, dash, letter. Cf. {Race}
     tribe, lineage.]
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     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.
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     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.
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              Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to
              one she loves.                        --Shak.
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              I chose to write the thing I durst not speak
              To her I loved.                       --Prior.
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     3. Hence, to compose or produce, as an author.
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              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.
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     4. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as, truth
        written on the heart.
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     5. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own
        written testimony; -- often used reflexively.
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              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.
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     {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.
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From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  writ
       n : (law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer
           [syn: {judicial writ}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  46 Moby Thesaurus words for "writ":
     bench warrant, blank, capias, caveat, chirograph, death warrant,
     docket, document, dossier, fieri facias, file, form,
     habere facias possessionem, holograph, injunction, instrument,
     interdict, legal document, legal instrument, legal paper, mandamus,
     mandate, mandatory injunction, mittimus, nisi prius, notice,
     notification, official document, paper, papers, parchment,
     personal file, precept, process, prohibitory injunction, roll,
     scrip, script, scroll, search warrant, subpoena, summons, warrant,
     warrant of arrest, warrant of attorney, writing
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  WRIT, practice. A mandatory precept issued by the authority, and in the name 
  of the sovereign or the state, for the purpose of compelling the defendant 
  to do something therein mentioned. 
       2. It is issued by a court or other competent jurisdiction, and is 
  returnable to the same. It is to be under seal and tested by the proper 
  officer, and is directed to the sheriff, or other officer lawfully 
  authorized to execute the same. Writs are divided into, 1. Original. 2. Of 
  mesne process. 3. Of execution. Vide 3 Bl. Com. 273; 1 Tidd, Pr. 93; Gould 
  on Pl. c. 2, s. 1. There are several kinds of writs, some of which are 
  mentioned below. 
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  WRIT, ORIGINAL, practice, English law. An original writ is a mandatory 
  letter issuing out of the court of chancery under the great seal and in a 
  king's name, directed to the sheriff of the county where the injury is 
  alleged to have been committed, containing a summary statement of the cause 
  of complaint, and requiring him in most cases, to command the defendant to 
  satisfy the claim; and, on his failure to comply, then to summon him to 
  appear in one of the superior courts of common law, there to account for his 
  non-compliance. In some cases, however, it omits the former alternative, and 
  requires the sheriff simply to enforce the appearance. Steph. Pl. 5.