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:

“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)

“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)

“I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen:
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And ‘Thou shalt not’ writ over the door;”
—William Blake (1757–1827)