| 释义 |
written, ppl. a.|ˈrɪt(ə)n|
Forms: 4–6 writen (5 Sc. -in, 5 ywriton), 4 wreten (5 -on, 6 -yn, Sc. -in); 5 writtin, wryttin, -yn, 6– written (6 whrythyn), 7 writt'n.
[pa. pple. of write v.]
1. a. That is composed, recorded, preserved, or mentioned in writing; committed to writing; also, that is in writing (as opposed to oral or printed); manuscript.
In very frequent use from c 1570.
a1300, etc. [see 1 b]. 1485in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 385 The above wryttin Perse Lynche, Mayor. c1511First Eng. Bk. Amer. Introd. (Arb.) p. xxxi, In the lande of Armeneten..is whrythyn seruyce of the masses. 1565Harding Answ. Ivelles Challenge 30 b, Thinges..either declared by written scriptures, or taught by the holy ghost. 1589Hakluyt Voy. Ep. Ded. ⁋2 Printed or written discoueries and voyages. 1617–20Moryson Itin. (1903) 139 The written Relations of this tyme testifye that..they mantayned..600th men at Armes. 1669Holder Elem. Speech 9 Written Language..is permanent. 1738C'tess Pomfret in C'tess Hartford's Corr. (1805) I. 24, I make the tour of the world in Gemelli's written one. 1782[see writer 3. c] 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, He will consent to accept a written apology. 1865Patents (1869) 365 Letters and other written documents. 1899Wardle Univ. Typewriter Man. 6 The Bell gives the operator warning when the written line is about to be completed.
fig.1605Shakes. Macb. v. iii. 42 Can'st thou not..Raze out the written troubles of the Braine? a1658Lovelace Poems (1904) 168 O sacred Peincture!.. Thou..art a written and a body'd mind. 1801Southey Thalaba xii. vii, Bitter penitence, That gives no respite night nor day from grief, To abide the written hour. 1821Shelley Hellas 809 Thou wouldst ask that giant spirit The written fortunes of thy house.
transf.1889Sutherland Sign-Writing ii. 2/1 The consideration of what a written sign ought to be. 1902C. R. Conder First Bible 62 To assign dates to the written monuments on stone.
b. Of laws: Reduced to, established by, writing; formulated in documents, codes, or printed works. (Cf. unwritten ppl. a. 1 b.)
a1300Cursor M. 14843 We sari men, quat mai wee sai, Ne knau we noght þe writen lai. c1425Wyntoun Cron. iii. Prol. 2 Moysses..Broucht to þe Iowis þar wryttyn lawys. 1471Caxton Recuyell (Sommer) 146 Alle lawe posityf and alle lawe wreton condempne the vnto the deth. 1684Sir G. Mackenzie Inst. Law Scot. (1694) 4 Our written Law comprehends, First, our Statutory Law [etc.]. 1728Chambers Cycl. (1738) s.v. Writing, We also say, written law, lex scripta, in opposition to common law. 1853[see writable a. 1]. 1882Encycl. Brit. XIV. 365 The question whether a written law comes relatively early or late in the history of a nation.
c. Expressed in due literary form.
1909J. R. Ware Passing Eng. 183/2 Not enough written (Authors', 1870), not sufficiently corrected for style. 1922F. M. Ford Let. 14 Aug. (1965) 141 Felicity Chimney is a much more ambitious matter. The only thing that is wrong with it is that it is too written. 1963Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Mar. 154/1 The writing is slipshod and frequently repetitive; in fact, as Henry James would say, it is not ‘written’ at all.
2. a. That is inscribed or carved upon; bearing engraving or inscription.
c1440Pallad. on Husb. xii. 114 Grekis sayn that pechis we may make Ywriton [L. scripta] growe. c1793Encycl. Brit. XII. 433 Written Mountain, Mountain of Inscriptions,..a supposed mountain..in the wilderness of Sinai. 1794W. Hutchinson Hist. Cumbld. I. 138 Written Rocks on Gelt. 1861Reade Cloister & H. lv, Presently we did pass a narrow lane, and..espied a written stone.
b. Bearing, inscribed or covered with, writing. Also with on.
1580[see writing-book 1]. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. ii. vii. 64 A carrion death, Within whose emptie eye there is a written scroule. 1656T. Violet Proposals 19 A written parchment, and a written sheet of paper annexed thereunto. 1692Athenian Merc. 24 Dec., A flat bundle of written Papers. 1831James Phil. Augustus II. ii, Treaties which in all ages have been but written parchments. 1869Patents 6 The written paper and the copying paper are laid on a board. 1948A. N. Keith Three came Home vii. 124 They were constantly looking for my papers, written-on or otherwise. 1955E. Bowen World of Love iv. 77 The written-on blue envelope.
fig.1820Shelley Prometh. Unb. ii. i. 110 Oh, lift Thine eyes, that I may read his written soul!
†3. written hand, cursive form of writing; a form of running hand. Obs.
1531Rec. St. Mary at Hill 45 A prymmer lymmed with gold and with Imagery, wretyn hond. 1582T. Watson Centurie of Love Ep. Ded., This worke..being as yet but in written hand. 1617Moryson Itin. I. 86 An old breviary of written hand and much esteemed. a1700Evelyn Diary 27 Jan. 1658, He had..skill to reade most written hands. 1764Foote Mayor of G. ii. i, We appoint him our Secretary for he can read written hand. 1849Chambers's Jrnl. 13 Oct. 239/1 Here, Theresa, see what it [sc. a paper] says: you can read written hand better than I.
4. Of letters, etc.: Traced or formed with the pen.
1582Mulcaster Elementarie (1925) 60 Som writen figure or accent. c1620A. Hume Brit. Tongue (1865) 7 The symbol, then, I cal the written letter. 1861Paley æschylus (ed. 2), Persians 351 The vestiges of the written digamma. 1877N. & Q. 31 March 246 Origin of written characters. 1881Lancet 26 Nov. 904/2 As he wrote each letter he named one aloud, but the written and spoken letter never corresponded with one another.
5. a. That has been written to. Also with to. In quots. absol.
1748Richardson Clarissa (1768) I. 206, I command thee to be pleased: If not for the writer's, or written's sake, for thy word's sake. Ibid. II. 121 [The letter] was written..on one knee, kneeling with the other. Not from reverence to the written to, however.
b. With advs. That has been written about, down, off, out, or up.
1754Richardson Corr. (1804) II. 198 Your capital men..with their short written-down speeches. 1890G. B. Shaw in Star 7 Mar. 2/3 The imagination of the public has undoubtedly been strongly seized by the spectacle of the much-written-up Tosca at the height of its prosperity. 1893Harper's Mag. Dec. 59/1 Not thet I'd b'lieve any written-out foolishness. 1897P. Warung Tales Old Regime 149 Negligently-written-up records. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 205 Using the native languages in his phonetically written-down form. 1899Daily News 22 June 8/1 The best written about poet of modern times. 1961Sunday Express 12 Feb. 9/2 He accuses them of..selling ‘written off’ car wrecks. 1964Times Rev. Industry & Technol. Feb. 9/1 The old British Lion Corporation..was..wound up in 1954 with a written-off loss of {pstlg}2,969,000. 1972Listener 6 July 3/2 Catch 44..is becoming one of the most written-up television projects in America.
c. written out: spec. of a writer, that has exhausted his creative capacity. Cf. write v. 17 b.
a1911D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xii. 355 He's had several failures... They say he's written out. 1959C. Williams Man in Motion ii. 21 Suzy Patton, the has-been. The written-out writer. 1978A. Powell Messengers of Day vii. 108 After a lifetime of work a novelist can possibly be ‘written out’.
▸ the written word: (a) (also the written Word) the text of the Bible; = word n. 10b; (b) written texts or material, considered collectively; written (as opposed to spoken) language (cf. the spoken word at spoken adj.1 2d).
1577H. Bull tr. M. Luther Comm. Fiftene Psalms 236 Let vs not yeld so much to our owne sense and feeling, as to the written word and to the holy Ghost, which pronounceth that with the Lord there is mercie. 1607S. Hieron Wks. I. 79 To make the written word (as it were) the standard or the kings beame, by which to try all doctrine. 1677R. Gilpin Dæmonol. Sacra iii. xvii. 140 Lay all to the Line and Plummet of the written Word. 1745J. Wesley Let. 30 Dec. (1931) II. 55 We believe that the threefold order of ministers..is not only authorized by its apostolical institution, but also by the written Word. 1897J. Conrad Art Fiction 630 My task which I am trying to achieve is, by the power of the written word, to make you hear, to make you feel—it is, before all, to make you see. 1929Radio Times 29 Nov. 432 Poetry..has its roots in the spoken word: the written word is only a means of saving poetry from the oblivion of time. 1990St. Louis (Missouri) Post-Dispatch (Nexis) 17 Feb. (Everyday Mag.) 6 d, What they see as a lack of doctrinal unity and a ‘watering down of the written Word’. 1991K. Waterhouse Eng. our Eng. p. xv, Then why, if nobody minds one way or the other whether we can punctuate or spell or construct a sentence, should we impose more stringent standards when it comes to the written word? |
