Written

How to spell written

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce written

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does written mean?

1. verbThe past participle of 'write': set down in letters, words, or symbols.
2. adjectiveExpressed or recorded in writing rather than spoken.

Written in a sentence

• verb

  The report was written over three long weekends.

• adjective

  The company requires written permission before any refund.

• verb

  She has written to the council twice about the noise.

• adjective

  There is no written record of the verbal agreement.

Where does written come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past participle of the verb 'write', which descends from the Old English writan, a verb that originally meant 'to scratch, score, or carve'. Before parchment and ink, early Germanic peoples literally cut runes into wood, bone, and stone, so the earliest sense was closer to engraving than to penmanship. The participle form carried the old strong-verb ending '-en', the same ending preserved in pairs like 'drive' and 'driven' or 'ride' and 'ridden'. As writing materials changed, the meaning softened from cutting into a surface to setting down words in any medium. The single 't' of 'write' becomes a doubled 't' in 'written' because the short vowel sound demands it, and that doubling is exactly the spot where careful adults still slip.

How the word is built

• writ- (from Old English writan: to scratch, draw, write)
• -en (past participle / adjective suffix)