Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Not written or recorded.
- adjective Having authority based on custom, tradition, or usage rather than doctrine.
- adjective Not written on; blank.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Not written; not reduced to writing; oral; traditional: as, unwritten laws; unwritten customs.
- Not written upon; blank; containing no writing.
- Not distinctly expressed, laid down, or formulated, but generally understood and acknowledged as binding: as, an unwritten rule; an unwritten constitution.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Not written; not reduced to writing; oral.
- adjective Containing no writing; blank.
- adjective (Theol.) such doctrines as have been handed down by word of mouth; oral or traditional doctrines.
- adjective That part of the law of England and of the United States which is not derived from express legislative enactment, or at least from any enactment now extant and in force as such. This law is now generally contained in the reports of judicial decisions. See Common law, under
Common . - adjective such laws as have been handed down by tradition or in song. Such were the laws of the early nations of Europe.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Spoken or otherwise communicated other than in writing.
- adjective
Implicit or understood but not formallyarticulated . - verb Past participle of
unwrite
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective using speech rather than writing
- adjective said or done without having been planned or written in advance
- adjective based on custom rather than documentation
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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I think it has a beautiful resolution and, unlike the case with a traditional short story, the limited word length often forces some of these elements to remain unwritten, that is, hinted at or implied in the written storyline.
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Doctrines of Hell, and purgatory, the power of Exorcisme, and other Doctrines which have no warrant, neither in Reason, nor Scripture; as also all those Traditions which they call the unwritten Word of God; but old Wives Fables?
Leviathan Thomas Hobbes 1633
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Lastly, for the errors brought in from false or uncertain history, what is all the legend of fictitious miracles in the lives of the saints; and all the histories of apparitions and ghosts alleged by the doctors of the Roman Church, to make good their doctrines of hell and purgatory, the power of exorcism, and other doctrines which have no warrant, neither in reason nor Scripture; as also all those traditions which they call the unwritten word of
Leviathan 2007
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Lastly, for the errors brought in from false or uncertain history, what is all the legend of fictitious miracles in the lives of the saints; and all the histories of apparitions and ghosts alleged by the doctors of the Roman Church, to make good their doctrines of hell and purgatory, the power of exorcism, and other doctrines which have no warrant, neither in reason nor Scripture; as also all those traditions which they call the unwritten word of God; but old wives 'fables?
Leviathan, or, The matter, forme, & power of a common-wealth ecclesiasticall and civill 1651
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A book unwritten is a delightful universe of infinite possibilities.
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My finals remain unwritten, my morning shower un-taken because I am mesmerized by the fascinating case of Priya Venkatesan.
Archive 2008-05-01 2008
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We kind of follow certain unwritten rulling that indicates to us that directors who didn't - for one reason or another - made a little splash on the intellect mark, may not be that worthy.
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This pledge is sometimes referred to as the unwritten "fourth article" of the Treaty, and is said to protect and recognise not only major western religions, but also Maori custom.
Archive 2009-04-01 elena maria vidal 2009
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This pledge is sometimes referred to as the unwritten "fourth article" of the Treaty, and is said to protect and recognise not only major western religions, but also Maori custom.
Bishop Pompallier elena maria vidal 2009
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God knows that the implicit creedalism (or what they themselves referred to as the unwritten orthodoxies. . .) of the "fundamentalist atheist" Humanists at the Unitarian Church of Montreal were enforce through informal means (e.g. peer pressure *my* theological views feel far from welcome) and indeed formal means such as threatening make with expulsion for complaining about the "informal" peer pressure such as labeling Creation Day as a cult. . .
Anti-Atheism Ad in UU World That Criticizes Bishop Spong Steve Caldwell 2009
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