Writ

In common law, a writ is a formal written order issued by a body with administrative or judicial jurisdiction; in modern usage, this body is generally a court. Warrants, prerogative writs and subpoenas are common types of writs but there are many others.

Famous quotes containing the word writ:

“The prison is the state writ small.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)

“We cannot learn the cipher
That’s writ upon our cell;
Stars help us by a mystery
Which we could never spell.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

“There is a Book
By seraphs writ with beams of heavenly light,
On which the eyes of God not rarely look,

A chronicle of actions just and bright—
There all thy deeds, my faithful Mary, shine;
And since thou own’st that praise, I spare thee mine.”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)