Definition of "writ" []

• Law A written order issued by a court, commanding the party to whom it is addressed to perform or cease performing a specified act. (noun)
• Writings: holy writ. (noun)
• A past tense and a past participle of write. (verb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Guy: In an attempt to purge Latin from the language of the law, California law has for many years used the term writ of mandate in place of writ of mandamus, and writ of review in place of writ of certiorari."
• "In an attempt to purge Latin from the language of the law, California law has for many years used the term writ of mandate in place of writ of mandamus, and writ of review in place of writ of certiorari."
• "You decorate a bus with your name writ large, pump up the patriotic platitudes, head out on an "all-American road trip" and, by golly, you just can't understand what all the fuss is about."