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Rule vs Writ - What's the difference?

rule | writ | Related terms |

In obsolete terms the difference between rule and writ

is that rule is conduct; behaviour while writ is that which is written; writing.

In lang=en terms the difference between rule and writ

is that rule is a determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result while writ is a written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something.

As nouns the difference between rule and writ

is that rule is a regulation, law, guideline while writ is a written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something.

As verbs the difference between rule and writ

is that rule is to regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over while writ is past participle of lang=en.

rule

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A regulation, law, guideline.
  • * Tillotson
    • We profess to have embraced a religion which contains the most exact rules for the government of our lives.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-22, volume=407, issue=8841, page=68, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= T time , passage=The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them
  • A ruler; device for measuring, a straightedge, a measure.
  • * South
    • A judicious artist will use his eye, but he will trust only to his rule .
  • A straight line , especially one lying across a paper as a guide for writing.
  • A regulating principle.
  • * c. 1604, William Shakespeare, All's well that ends well , Act I, scene I:
    • There's little can be said in 't; 'Tis against the rule of nature.
  • The act of ruling; administration of law; government; empire; authority; control.
  • * Bible, Hebrews xiii. 17
    • Obey them that have the rule over you.
  • * Alexander Pope
    • His stern rule the groaning land obeyed.
  • A normal condition or state of affairs.
    • My rule is to rise at six o'clock.
  • (obsolete) Conduct; behaviour.
  • * Shakespeare
    • This uncivil rule ; she shall know of it.
  • (legal) An order regulating the practice of the courts, or an order made between parties to an action or a suit.
    • (Wharton)
  • (math) A determinate method prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result.
    • a rule for extracting the cube root
  • (printing, dated) A thin plate of brass or other metal, of the same height as the type, and used for printing lines, as between columns on the same page, or in tabular work.

    • Derived terms

    * exception that proves the rule * golden rule * rule of action * rule of law * rule of thumb * silver rule * slide rule * there is an exception to every rule

    Related terms

    * regulate * regent * regular

    Verb

    (rul)
  • To regulate, be in charge of, make decisions for, reign over.
  • * , chapter=13
    • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.}}
  • (slang) To excel.
  • To mark (paper or the like) with (lines).
  • To decide judicially.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-21, author= Karen McVeigh
    • , volume=189, issue=2, page=10, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly) , title= US rules human genes can't be patented , passage=The US supreme court has ruled unanimously that natural human genes cannot be patented, a decision that scientists and civil rights campaigners said removed a major barrier to patient care and medical innovation.}}
  • To establish or settle by, or as by, a rule; to fix by universal or general consent, or by common practice.
  • * Atterbury
    • That's a ruled case with the schoolmen.

    Synonyms

    * (to excel) rock (also slang)

    Antonyms

    * (to excel) suck (vulgar slang)

    Derived terms

    * Rule Britannia * rule on * rule out * rule the roost * the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----

    writ

    English

    (wikipedia writ)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (legal) A written order, issued by a court, ordering someone to do (or stop doing) something.
  • authority, power to enforce compliance
  • * '>citation
    • We can't let them take advantage of the fact that there are so many areas of the world where no one's writ runs.
  • (obsolete) that which is written; writing
  • * Spenser
    • Then to his hands that writ he did betake, / Which he disclosing read, thus as the paper spake.
  • * Knolles
    • Babylon, so much spoken of in Holy Writ

    Derived terms

    * drop the writ * Holy Writ * writ of habeas corpus

    References

    * Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia (Webster)

    Verb

    (head)
  • (dated, nonstandard)
    • (Dryden)
  • * (Omar Khayyam) (in translation)
    • The moving finger writes, and having writ , not all your piety or wit can lure it back to cancel half a line

    Usage notes

    * The form writ'' survives in standard dialects only in the phrase ''writ large , though it remains common in some dialects (e.g. Scouse).

    Related terms

    * writ large ----