Emily Dickinson Lexicon

WRIT, n. [from write.]

1. That which is written. In this sense, writ is particularly applied to the Scriptures, or books of the Old and New Testament; as, holy writ; sacred writ.
2. In law, a precept issued from the proper authority to the sherif, his deputy or other subordinate officer, commanding him to perform some act, as to summon a defendant into court to answer, and the like. In England, writs are issued from some event under seal. In some of the United States, writs are issued by any single judge or justice of the peace, in the name and by the authority of the state. In some of the United States, the writ in a civil suit, contains both the summons and the plaintif's declaration or cause of action set forth at large, and a writ is either a summons or an attachment. Writs are original or judicial. An original writ, in England, is issued from the high court of chancery. A judicial writ is issued by order of a court upon a special occasion, during the pendency of the suit. Writs are of various kinds; as, writs of assize, writs of copias, writs of distringas, &c. – Shak.
3. A legal instrument. – Shak.