Etymograph

English

write

Write comes from Middle English writen ‘to write’, from Proto-West Germanic *wrītan ‘to scratch, carve’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wrey- ‘to rip, tear’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wrey-1‘to rip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrītaną1‘to carve’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrītan1‘to scratch’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrītan1‘to write’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500writen1‘to write’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588write1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English write
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Thoſe walled garriſons will I ſubdue, And write my…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wrey-Wiktionary, English write‘to rip’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wrītanąWiktionary, English write‘to carve’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*wrītanWiktionary, English write‘to scratch’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150wrītanWiktionary, English write‘to write’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500writenWiktionary, English write‘to write’
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1587–1588writeWiktionary, English write. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1587–1588, Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […]: “Thoſe walled garriſons will I ſubdue, And write my…”

Linked words

through Old English wrītan ‘to write’

writing, unwritten, 4 more

Today it means

verb To form letters, words or symbols on a surface in order to communicate.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “write”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wrey- / write

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