a formal order under seal, issued in the name of a sovereign, government, court, or other competent authority, enjoining the officer or other person to whom it is issued or addressed to do or refrain from some specified act.
(in early English law) any formal document in letter form, under seal, and in the sovereign's name.
something written; a writing: sacred writ.
Origin of writ
1
before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Old Norse rit writing, Gothic writs letter. See write
We also asked pollsters what, if anything, they were still worried about in 2020, regarding either their own polls or the polling industry writ large.
What Pollsters Have Changed Since 2016 — And What Still Worries Them About 2020|Geoffrey Skelley (geoffrey.skelley@abc.com)|October 13, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
A real problem for the polling industry writ large was the underrepresentation of voters with little or no college education.
What Pollsters Have Changed Since 2016 — And What Still Worries Them About 2020|Geoffrey Skelley (geoffrey.skelley@abc.com)|October 13, 2020|FiveThirtyEight
Writ in its history are all the ills and passions of the past century.
Glenn Beck Is Now Selling Hipster Clothes. Really.|Ana Marie Cox|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
McCain said additional economic sanctions against Russia writ large were also called for.
Exclusive: McCain Tells Obama How to Punish Putin|Josh Rogin|March 2, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Baghdadi is unlikely to comply, and Zawahiri has long been unable to enforce his writ on the Iraqi branch of al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda’s Most Dangerous Stronghold|Bruce Riedel|November 11, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It is the isolation of rural America writ in bricks and mortar.
George W. Bush ‘Comes Out’ As Artist|Lizzie Crocker|February 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And we saw that same desire to be free in Tunisia, where the will of the people proved more powerful than the writ of a dictator.
Obama's State of the Union Speech Transcript|The Daily Beast|January 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
If he is a notorious spendthrift they outlaw him by means of a writ presented to the magistrate.
The History of Sumatra|William Marsden
I should have stayed at home and writ to him, an' he'd have been compelled to send the police with it.
Some Everyday Folk and Dawn|Miles Franklin
But you have been a patient listener to my inaugural lecture, and it is time to give you a writ of ease.
The second attempt to serve the writ on the child was more successful.
The Fugitive Slave Law and Its Victims|American Anti-Slavery Society
The writ was sent to the late warden on the 5th April, and the notification to the citizens took place on the 9th.
The Story of London|Henry B. Wheatley
British Dictionary definitions for writ (1 of 2)
writ1
/ (rɪt) /
noun
law(formerly) a document under seal, issued in the name of the Crown or a court, commanding the person to whom it is addressed to do or refrain from doing some specified actOfficial name: claim
archaica piece or body of writingHoly Writ
Word Origin for writ
Old English; related to Old Norse rit, Gothic writs stroke, Old High German riz (German Riss a tear). See write
British Dictionary definitions for writ (2 of 2)
writ2
/ (rɪt) /
verb
archaic, ordialect a past tense and past participle of write