unwritten

English

Etymology

From Middle English unwriten, from Old English unwriten, unġewriten (“unwritten”), equivalent to un- +‎ written.

Adjective

unwritten (not comparable)

1. Not written.
   • 2002 August 25, Erin McKean, “THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 8-25-02: ON LANGUAGE; Neologist”, in The New York Times‎:

     The most important rule is unwritten but not unspoken. It is the rule of pronounceability. Sure, xzyqt looks grand, but how do you say it?

2. Oral or otherwise communicated without writing.
3. Implicit or understood but not formally articulated.

   It's an unwritten rule that you lock the gate when you leave the swimming pool.

4. Containing no writing; blank.

   unwritten paper

Derived terms

• unwritten rule

Translations

not written

Assamese: নিলিখা (nilikha), লিখা নথকা (likha nothoka) Chinese: Mandarin: 不成文的 (zh) (bùchéngwén de) Czech: nepsaný (cs) m Dutch: ongeschreven (nl) Finnish: kirjoittamaton (fi) French: inécrit (fr) Georgian: დაუწერელი (dauc̣ereli) German: ungeschrieben Greek: άγραφος (el) (ágrafos) Ancient: ἄγραφος (ágraphos) Japanese: 書かれていない (ja) (kakareteinai), 白紙の (ja) (hakushi no) Latin: inscriptus Macedonian: непишан (nepišan) Manx: gyn screeu Norwegian: uskreven Russian: непи́саный (ru) (nepísanyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: нѐпӣса̄н Roman: nèpīsān (sh)

communicated without writing

Greek: άγραφος (el) (ágrafos) Manx: beill, beeal Russian: у́стный (ru) (ústnyj)

implicit or understood but not formally articulated

Finnish: kirjoittamaton (fi), julkilausumaton, implisiittinen (fi) Greek: άγραφος (el) (ágrafos) Hungarian: íratlan (hu) Portuguese: consuetudinário (pt) Russian: непи́саный (ru) (nepísanyj), негла́сный (ru) (neglásnyj)

containing no writing; blank

Finnish: kirjoittamaton (fi), tyhjä (fi) Greek: άγραφος (el) (ágrafos) Hungarian: írástalan, üres (hu) Russian: чи́стый (ru) (čístyj)

Verb

unwritten

1. past participle of unwrite

See also

• unwrittenness
• written
• de facto
• oral