writ

Pronunciation: /ɹɪt/

The English word “writ” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

A written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something.
A document ordering that an election be conducted.
An order issued by the House of Lords summoning peers to the Chamber.
Authority, power to enforce compliance.
That which is written; writing.

Etymology

From Middle English writ, from Old English writ and ġewrit (“writing”), from Proto-Germanic *writą (“fissure, writing”), from Proto-Indo-European *wrey-, *wrī- (“to scratch, carve, ingrave”). Cognate with Scots writ (“writ, writing, handwriting”), Icelandic rit (“writing, writ, literary work, publication”).

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.