Unwritten \Un*writ"ten\, a.
1. Not written; not reduced to writing; oral; as, unwritten
agreements.
[1913 Webster]
2. Containing no writing; blank; as, unwritten paper.
[1913 Webster]
Unwritten doctrines (Theol.), such doctrines as have been
handed down by word of mouth; oral or traditional
doctrines.
Unwritten law. [Cf. L. lex non scripta.] 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.
Unwritten laws, such laws as have been handed down by
tradition or in song. Such were the laws of the early
nations of Europe.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
unwritten
adj 1: based on custom rather than documentation; "an unwritten
law"; "rites...so ancient that they well might have
had their unwritten origins in Aurignacian times"-
J.L.T.C.Spence [ant: written]
2: using speech rather than writing; "an oral tradition"; "an
oral agreement" [syn: oral]
3: said or done without having been planned or written in
advance; "he made a few ad-lib remarks" [syn: ad-lib, spontaneous]
WordNet (r) 2.0
66 Moby Thesaurus words for "unwritten":
acknowledged, admitted, articulated, conventional, customary,
enunciated, established, fixed, folk, hallowed, handed down,
heroic, hoary, immemorial, inveterate, legendary, lingual,
linguistic, long-established, long-standing, mythological,
nuncupative, of long standing, of the folk, oral, parol,
prescriptive, pronounced, received, recognized, rooted, said,
silent, sounded, speech, spoken, time-honored, traditional,
tried and true, true-blue, undeclared, understood, unexpressed,
unmentioned, unproclaimed, unpronounced, unpublished, unrecorded,
unsaid, unspoken, unsung, untalked-of, untold, unuttered, unvoiced,
uttered, venerable, verbal, viva voce, vocal, vocalized, voiced,
voiceful, word-of-mouth, wordless, worshipful
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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