Emily Dickinson Lexicon

UN-DER-WRITE', v.t. [See Write.]

1. To write under something else. The change I have made, I have here underwritten. Saunderson.
2. To subscribe. We whose names are underwritten, agree to pay the sums expressed against our respective names.
3. To subscribe one's name for insurance; to set one's name to a policy of insurance, for the purpose of becoming answerable for loss or damage, for a certain premium per cent. Individuals underwrite policies of insurance, as well as companies. The broker who procures insurance, ought not, by underwriting the policy, to deprive the parties of his unbiased testimony. Marshall.