WRITING

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does writing mean? 

• WRITING (noun)
  The noun WRITING has 5 senses:

1. the act of creating written works

2. the work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect)

3. (usually plural) the collected work of an author

4. letters or symbols that are written or imprinted on a surface to represent the sounds or words of a language

5. the activity of putting something in written form

  Familiarity information: WRITING used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• WRITING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of creating written works

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

authorship; composition; penning; writing

Context example:

it was a matter of disputed authorship

Hypernyms ("writing" is a kind of...):

verbal creation (creating something by the use of speech and language)

Domain member category:

dash off; fling off; knock off; scratch off; toss off (write quickly)

script (write a script for)

write out; write up (put into writing; write in complete form)

cite; reference (refer to)

annotate; footnote (add explanatory notes to or supply with critical comments)

ghost; ghostwrite (write for someone else)

co-author (be a co-author on (a book, a paper))

author (be the author of)

draft; outline (draw up an outline or sketch for something)

adopt; dramatise; dramatize (put into dramatic form)

write copy (write for commercial publications)

rewrite (rewrite so as to make fit to suit a new or different purpose)

paragraph (write paragraphs; work as a paragrapher)

profile (write about)

write about; write of; write on (write about a particular topic)

compose; indite; pen; write (produce a literary work)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "writing"):

metrification (writing a metrical composition (or the metrical structure of a composition))

versification (the art or practice of writing verse)

lexicography (the act of writing dictionaries)

redaction (the act of putting something in writing)

novelisation; novelization (converting something into the form of a novel)

historiography (the writing of history)

fabrication; fictionalisation; fictionalization (writing in a fictional form)

dramatisation; dramatization (conversion into dramatic form)

drafting (writing a first version to be filled out and polished later)

adoxography (fine writing in praise of trivial or base subjects)

Derivation:

write (produce a literary work)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The work of a writer; anything expressed in letters of the alphabet (especially when considered from the point of view of style and effect)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

piece of writing; writing; written material

Context example:

that editorial was a fine piece of writing

Hypernyms ("writing" is a kind of...):

black and white; written communication; written language (communication by means of written symbols (either printed or handwritten))

Meronyms (parts of "writing"):

epilog; epilogue (a short passage added at the end of a literary work)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "writing"):

dramatic composition; dramatic work (a play for performance on the stage or television or in a movie etc.)

autograph (something written by one's own hand)

treatise (a formal exposition)

adaptation; version (a written work (as a novel) that has been recast in a new form)

essay (an analytic or interpretive literary composition)

editing; redaction (putting something (as a literary work or a legislative bill) into acceptable form)

religious text; religious writing; sacred text; sacred writing (writing that is venerated for the worship of a deity)

screed (a long piece of writing)

document; papers; written document (writing that provides information (especially information of an official nature))

dithyramb (a wildly enthusiastic speech or piece of writing)

plagiarism (a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work)

transcript (something that has been transcribed; a written record (usually typewritten) of dictated or recorded speech)

cryptogram; cryptograph; secret writing (a piece of writing in code or cipher)

manuscript; ms (the form of a literary work submitted for publication)

inscription; lettering (letters inscribed (especially words engraved or carved) on something)

diary; journal (a daily written record of (usually personal) experiences and observations)

paragraph (one of several distinct subdivisions of a text intended to separate ideas; the beginning is usually marked by a new indented line)

section; subdivision (a self-contained part of a larger composition (written or musical))

criticism; literary criticism (a written evaluation of a work of literature)

matter (written works (especially in books or magazines))

literature (published writings in a particular style on a particular subject)

literature (creative writing of recognized artistic value)

literary composition; literary work (imaginative or creative writing)

rescript; revision; rewrite (something that has been written again)

title ((usually plural) written material introduced into a movie or TV show to give credits or represent dialogue or explain an action)

bowdlerisation; bowdlerization (written material that has been bowdlerized)

Instance hyponyms:

Ayurveda ((Sanskrit) an ancient medical treatise summarizing the Hindu art of healing and prolonging life; sometimes regarded as a 5th Veda)

Sense 3

Meaning:

(usually plural) the collected work of an author

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the idea occurs with increasing frequency in Hemingway's writings

Hypernyms ("writing" is a kind of...):

body of work; oeuvre; work (the total output of a writer or artist (or a substantial part of it))

black and white; written communication; written language (communication by means of written symbols (either printed or handwritten))

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "writing"):

patristics; patrology (the writings of the early Church Fathers)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Letters or symbols that are written or imprinted on a surface to represent the sounds or words of a language

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Context example:

the doctor's writing was illegible

Hypernyms ("writing" is a kind of...):

black and white; written communication; written language (communication by means of written symbols (either printed or handwritten))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "writing"):

printing (text handwritten in the style of printed matter)

notation; notational system (a technical system of symbols used to represent special things)

printing; printing process (reproduction by applying ink to paper as for publication)

skywriting (writing formed in the sky by smoke released from an airplane)

hieroglyph; hieroglyphic (writing that resembles hieroglyphics (usually by being illegible))

typewriting; typing (writing done with a typewriter)

capitalisation; capitalization (writing in capital letters)

coding system (a system of signals used to represent letters or numbers in transmitting messages)

orthography; writing system (a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols)

hand; handwriting; script (something written by hand)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The activity of putting something in written form

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

committal to writing; writing

Context example:

she did the thinking while he did the writing

Hypernyms ("writing" is a kind of...):

activity (any specific behavior)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "writing"):

handwriting (the activity of writing by hand)

inscription (the activity of inscribing (especially carving or engraving) letters or words)

notation (the activity of representing something by a special system of marks or characters)

coding; cryptography; secret writing; steganography (act of writing in code or cipher)

Derivation:

write (communicate or express by writing)

 Context examples 

The writing is undoubtedly my uncle’s.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I must keep writing at every chance, for I dare not stop to think.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

“I understood that you were writing a report of this case,” said he.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But she took such a long walk up and down our rooms that night, while I was writing to Agnes, that I began to think she meant to walk till morning.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

No, you would not guess, from his way of writing, that he had ever thought of this Miss (what's her name?) for himself.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

On receiving it, she could instantly decide on its containing little writing, and was persuaded of its having the air of a letter of haste and business.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

"It's like his writing," faltered Meg, comparing it with the note in her hand.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

“This writing is of extraordinary interest,” said Holmes, who had been examining it with intense concentration.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Some people notice: • Trouble walking or running • Trouble writing • Speech problems

(Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

People may not recognize family members or have trouble speaking, reading or writing.

(Alzheimer's Disease, NIH: National Institute on Aging)