WRITING - The Law Mind Legal Dictionary

WRITINGAuthored

The Law Mind • 1238 words

Definition

Writing, in law, has two related but distinct senses that frequently operate together.

1. As an act: The process of forming letters, marks, or characters on a surface — paper, parchment, stone, or other material — so as to give visible, objective expression to ideas, agreements, or directions.

2. As an instrument: Any document, manuscript, or printed text that results from that act, as opposed to spoken or oral communication. In this sense, "writing" encompasses contracts, deeds, wills, letters, receipts, bonds, memoranda, and similar instruments.

The legal significance of writing lies less in the act itself and more in its function: writing serves as the required, preferred, or evidentiary form through which legal rights and obligations are created, recorded, or proven. A writing requirement imposed by statute or rule means that an oral agreement, however sincere, has no enforceable legal effect until reduced to written form.

Common Language

Modern common usage (Wiktionary): The representation of language through symbols or letters; something written, such as a document, article, or book; the style or process of written expression; a work of authorship.

Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material for the purpose of recording ideas or communicating them by visible signs; anything written or printed, including legal instruments, compositions, and similar documents.

The common meaning of "writing" is broad and descriptive — it encompasses a grocery list, a novel, or a text message equally. The legal meaning is narrower in purpose but potentially broader in form: what counts as a "writing" sufficient to satisfy a legal requirement is a technical question. Courts and statutes have had to determine whether typewritten text, printed documents, electronic records, and digital signatures qualify. A researcher encountering a statutory "writing" requirement cannot assume the common understanding controls; the operative definition may be set by the statute itself, by UCC provisions, by the E-SIGN Act, or by judicial interpretation of the applicable rule.

Common Confusion

Writing vs. signed writing vs. instrument: Many legal requirements demand not merely a "writing" but a "signed writing" or a "written instrument." These are not interchangeable. A writing alone may establish that terms exist; a signed writing allocates authorship and assent; an instrument may carry additional formal requirements depending on context (acknowledgment, witnesses, sealing). Researchers working with older sources must be especially careful: historical sources often treat "writing" as implicitly including a signature requirement, while modern statutory drafting tends to separate the two conditions explicitly.

Writing vs. electronic record: Modern statutes, particularly the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) and the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (E-SIGN), establish that electronic records can satisfy legal writing requirements in most commercial contexts. Historical dictionary sources predate this development entirely and cannot be relied upon for guidance here.

Why It Matters in Research

The term "writing" is one of the most context-dependent words in the legal corpus, and this creates specific traps for researchers.

First, the definition of what qualifies as a "writing" has shifted across time and jurisdiction. Historical sources — including all five dictionaries in this corpus — define writing in terms of physical marks on tangible surfaces. That definition became legally insufficient as typewriters, printing presses, telegraphs, faxes, and ultimately electronic communications emerged. A researcher tracing the Statute of Frauds writing requirement from its 1677 origins through twentieth-century case law will encounter shifting judicial interpretations of what "written" means at each stage.

Second, writing requirements appear across almost every substantive area of law but with different operative meanings in each. The "writing" required to satisfy the Statute of Frauds for a contract (a memorandum containing essential terms, signed by the party to be charged) differs from the "writing" required for a valid deed (typically formal execution, acknowledgment, and delivery) and from the "writing" required for a will (which may require holographic form in some jurisdictions). The same word carries different freight in different doctrinal contexts.

Third, older treatises and cases frequently use "writing" when they mean "executed instrument" or "signed memorandum." Researchers reading historical sources should not assume that a reference to a requirement of "writing" excludes a signature requirement — that distinction may simply have been taken for granted by the author.

Fourth, the corpus connections here are meaningful. Contracts sources dealing with the Statute of Frauds, real property sources dealing with deed formalities, and family law sources dealing with premarital agreement requirements all impose writing requirements, but the consequences of failure differ. Statute of Frauds violations render contracts unenforceable (not void); defective deeds may fail to pass title but may support equitable claims; defective premarital agreements may be invalidated entirely. The word "writing" is shared; the legal consequences of its absence are not.

Historical Dictionary Support

The five historical dictionaries show strong agreement on the core definition but differ in emphasis and completeness.

Black's (both editions) and Burrill define writing in functional terms — the visible expression of ideas by letters — and correctly note the transition from act to instrument. Burrill adds a useful historical note, quoting Bracton's description of writing as one of the "garments" (vestimenta) of a contract or obligation, which captures how medieval legal thinking understood writing as the outer clothing of legal obligation rather than its substance. This framing is historically illuminating for researchers working with common law contract formation doctrine.

Bouvier adds a practical dimension, emphasizing the act of hand-formation and noting that "writing" used in connection with more specific terms takes a narrower meaning. Bouvier's caution that a letter from one person to another may constitute a writing but that this is not the "ordinary and usual" acceptation signals the importance of surrounding context — a point that remains valid today.

Anderson's entry as excerpted is unhelpfully off-topic, addressing writs rather than writing, and should not be relied upon for this term.

What the historical dictionaries collectively miss is substantial: electronic records, digital signatures, the UETA and E-SIGN frameworks, and any discussion of what happens when a statutory "writing" requirement collides with modern transactional practice. Researchers should treat these sources as authoritative for historical common law and early statutory contexts, but not as guidance for twentieth-century or later writing requirements.

Jurisdictional Note

All U.S. jurisdictions impose writing requirements through their Statute of Frauds, but the categories of contracts covered and the specificity of what the writing must contain vary by state. Electronic writing equivalents are governed by UETA (adopted in most states) and federal E-SIGN, but state-specific carve-outs exist, particularly for real estate transactions and wills, which are frequently excluded from electronic execution rules.

Encyclopedia Cross-Reference

Contracts -- Statute of Frauds (Writing Requirement, Categories, Exceptions) — The Law Mind Contracts & Commercial Law Encyclopedia
Deed Requirements -- Writing, Description, Grantor/Grantee, Delivery, and Acceptance — The Law Mind Real Estate Transactions & Construction Encyclopedia
Premarital Agreements -- Formal Requirements (Writing, Disclosure, Voluntariness) — The Law Mind Family Law Encyclopedia

WRITINGmain

Black's Law Dictionary • 1891

The expression of ideas by letters visible to the eye. 14 Johns. 491. The giving an outward and objective form to a contract, will, etc., by means of letters or marks placed upon paper, parchment, or other material substance. In the most general sense of the word, "writing" denotes a document, whether man- uscript or printed, as opposed to mere spoken words. Writing is essential to the validity of certain contracts and other transactions. Sweet.

WRITINGmain

Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) • 1910

The expression of ideas by letters visible to the eye. Clason v. Bailey, 14 Johns. (N. Y.) 491. The giving an outward and objective form to a contract, will, etc., by means of letters or marks placed upon paper, parchment, or other material substance. In the most general sense of the word, “writing”? denotes a document, whether manuscript or printed, as opposed to mere spoken words. Writing is essential to the validity of certain contracts and other transactions. Svveet.

WRITINGmain

Anderson's Dictionary of Law • 1890

the original was returnable, and being grounded on what passed in that court in consequence of the sheriff's return, were called judicial writs. They issued under the private seal of that court, and were teste'd In the name of the chief or senior justice only.¹ In England, since 1873, all suits begin with a writ of summons. In this country, the courts derive jurisdiction from constitutions, and not from any writ in the nature of the old common-law original writ. See Words traced with a pen, or stamped, printed, engraved, or made legible by any other device.5 The expression of ideas by visible letters on paper, wood, stone, or other material. When a statute or usage requires a "writing," it must be on paper or parchment; but it is not essential that it be in ink; it may be in pencil. This rule applies to promissory notes, book accounts, a will or a signature thereto, applications for insurance, and the like. The notes of an official stenographer, taken when a witness testifies in court, is a taking "in writing."" A judicial order by telegraph is an order "in writing." Compare SUBSCRIBE. Under a statute which provides that an officer may assign tax certificates "by writing" his name in blank, with his character added, the officer may 13 Bl. Com. 282. 2 Walker, American Law, 514. 34 Bl. Com. 427. "stamp" his name and character, with intent to assign a certificate.1 A printed theater ticket is a "writing" which may be made the subject of forgery at common law.2 A contract, required to be "in writing," may not need the signatures of both parties.¹ Words written prevail over words printed: the former are the immediate language of the parties; the latter, a general formula adapted to all cases, as, in the case of a policy of insurance, or a lease. Ancient writings. Deeds, wills, and other instruments more than thirty years old. May be read in evidence without other proof of execution than that they have been in the possession of those claiming rights under them, The evidence of such ancient documents is admitted upon the ground that, although between strangers, they are of such character as usually accompanies transfers of title or acts of possession, and purport to form a part of actual transactions referring to coexisting subjects by which their truth can be tested, and there is deemed to be a presumption that they are not fabricated. But plottings for plans and fieldnotes are memoranda only, which may never have been acted upon. The rule is that an ancient deed may be admitted in evidence, without direct proof of its execution, if it appears to be of the age of at least thirty years, when it is found in proper custody, and either possession under it is shown, or some other corroborative evidence of its authenticity, freeing it from all just grounds of suspicion." After the lapse of thirty years, the witnesses are presumed to be dead. The rule applies to all kinds of deeds, where the instrument comes from the custody of the proper party claiming under it, or entitled to its custody.7 More or less credit has always been attached to ancient documents without other proof of authenticity than that of their production from proper depositories. Where any document purporting or proved to be thirty years old is produced from its proper custody, every part which purports to be in the handwriting of a particular person is presumed to be authentic. This exception to the general rule of evidence rests upon a conceded necessity, and applies not only to formal instruments, such as wills, bonds, and 1 Dreutzer v. Smith, 56 Wis. 297 (1882), cases. 2 Re Benson, 34 F. R. 649 (1888); Benson v. McMahon, 127 U. S. 467 (1888). 3 Hightower v. State, 72 Ga. 482 (1834); Wofford v. 4 Wheeler v. North. Col. Irrigation Co., 9 Col. 251 Wyly, ib. 863 (1884). (1886), cases. James v. Lycoming Ins. Co., 4 Cliff. 289-91 (1874), * Henshaw v. Foster, 9 Pick. 318 (1830), Parker, C. J., cases; 3 Kent, 260; 1 Whart. Ev. § 925, cases. quoting La. Penal Code. Myers v. Vanderbelt, 84 Pa. 513-14 (1877), cases; Chitty, Contr. 91; Story, Prom. Notes, § 11; Byles, Bills, 134; 1 Redf. Wills, § 17, pl. 2; City Ins. Co. υ. Bricker, 91 Pa. 490 (1879); 2 Bl. Com. 297. Boston Water Power Co. v. Hanlon, 133 Mass, 484 (1882), Devens, J. • Applegate v. Lexington, &c. Mining Co., 117 U. S. 263 (1886), cases, Woods, J.; Fulkerson v. Holmes, ib. 3S9 (1886); Williams v. Conger, 125 id. 417, 397 (1888). 'Winn v. Patterson, 9 Pet. *675 (1835), Story, J. See * Nichols v. Harris, 32 La. An. 646 (1880). • State v. Holmes, 56 Iowa, 590 (1881); 48 N. H. 480; 36 generally 1 Greenl. Ev. §§ 141-46, cases; 1 Whart. Ev. §§ 703-32, cases. N. Y. 307.

WRITINGn.

Websters Unabridged Dictionary (1913) • 1913

The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs. Anything written or printed; anything expressed in characters or letters; as: Any legal instrument, as a deed, a receipt, a bond, an agreement, or the like. Any written composition; a pamphlet; a work; a literary production; a book; as, the writings of Addison. An inscription. And Pilate wrote a title . . . And the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. John xix. 19. Handwriting; chirography. Writing book, a book for practice in penmanship.  -- Writing desk, a desk with a sloping top for writing upon; also, a case containing writing materials, and used in a similar manner.  -- Writing lark (Zoöl.), the European yellow-hammer; -- so called from the curious irregular lines on its eggs. [Prov. Eng.] -- Writing machine. Same as Typewriter.  -- Writing master, one who teaches the art of penmanship.  -- Writing obligatory (Law), a bond.  -- Writing paper, paper intended for writing upon with ink, usually finished with a smooth surface, and sized.  -- Writing school, a school for instruction in penmanship.  -- Writing table, a table fitted or used for writing upon.

writingnoun

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

Wiktionary contributors • CC BY-SA 4.0 • via Kaikki
Extracted and formatted for display by Law Mind. Source link opens the current Wiktionary page and its contributor history; it is not a frozen copy of this extract.

Graphism of symbols such as letters that express some meaning. | Something written, such as a document, article or book. | The process of representing a language with symbols or letters. | A work of an author. | The style of writing of a person. | Intended for or used in writing.

writingverb

Wiktionary (English) • 2026

present participle and gerund of write

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