writ Definition

writ¹
noun

1. A legal document issued by a court in the name of a sovereign, by which someone is summoned, or required to do or refrain from doing something.

Thesaurus: decree, summons, court order, subpoena.
2. archaic
A writing.

Idiom: serve a writ on someone

To deliver a summons to them.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon in sense 2.

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writ²
verb

1. archaic
Past tense, past participle of write.

Idiom: writ large

Written in large letters.

On a large scale; very obvious.