write v
1. produce a literary work; "She composed a poem"; "He wrote four novels" [syn: compose, pen, indite]
2. communicate or express by writing; "Please write to me every week"
3. have (one's written work) issued for publication; "How many books did Georges Simenon write?"; "She published 25 books during her long career" [syn: publish]
4. communicate (with) in writing; "Write her soon, please!" [syn: drop a line]
5. communicate by letter; "He wrote that he would be coming soon"
6. write music; "Beethoven composed nine symphonies" [syn: compose]
7. mark or trace on a surface; "The artist wrote Chinese characters on a big piece of white paper"
8. record data on a computer; "boot-up instructions are written on the hard disk"
9. write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word); "He spelled the word wrong in this letter" [syn: spell] [also: wrote, written]

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.

Writing is the act of recording language on a visual medium using a set of symbols. The symbols must be known to others, so that the text may be read.

A text may also use other visual systems, such as illustrations and decorations. These are not called writing, but may help the message work. Usually, all educated people in a country use the same writing system to record the same language. To be able to read and write is to be literate.

Writing differs from speech because the readers need not be present at the time. We can read writing from long ago, and from different parts of the world. It works across time and space. It stores and communicates knowledge. Writing is one of the greatest inventions of the human species. It was invented after people had settled in towns, and after agriculture had started. Writing dates from about 3,300BC, which is over 5000 years ago, in the Middle East.

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