Search Result for "writ": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (1)

1. (law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer;
[syn: writ, judicial writ]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

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.] [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Last night she enjoined me to write some lines to one she loves. --Shak. [1913 Webster] I chose to write the thing I durst not speak To her I loved. --Prior. [1913 Webster] 3. Hence, to compose or produce, as an author. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 4. To impress durably; to imprint; to engrave; as, truth written on the heart. [1913 Webster] 5. To make known by writing; to record; to prove by one's own written testimony; -- often used reflexively. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Writ \Writ\, obs. 3d pers. sing. pres. of Write, for writeth. --Chaucer. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Writ \Writ\, archaic imp. & p. p. of Write. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Writ \Writ\, n. [AS. writ, gewrit. See Write.] [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Then to his hands that writ he did betake, Which he disclosing read, thus as the paper spake. --Spenser. [1913 Webster] Babylon, so much spoken of in Holy Writ. --Knolles. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] 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. [1913 Webster] Writ of account, Writ of capias, etc. See under Account, Capias, etc. Service of a writ. See under Service. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

writ n 1: (law) a legal document issued by a court or judicial officer [syn: writ, judicial writ]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

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
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

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.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

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.