overwritev.
/ˌəʊvəˈrʌɪt/, U.S. /ˌoʊvə(r)ˈraɪt/ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > matter of book > [verb (transitive)] > title or heading
entitlec1381
titlea1387
intitule1490
intitulate1575
overwrite1605
rubricate1793
subtitle1830
epigraph1860
1605 W. Camden Remaines 175 He might seeme to be in some hard distresse, which carried a Viper vpon his hand, with this word overwritten, Mors vel morsvs.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy IV. i. 75 This [tale]..is overwritten, The Intricacies of Diego and Julia.
2.
a. transitive. To write (something) over other writing. Also in extended use.
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society > communication > writing > written text > layout > [verb (transitive)] > write as palimpsest
overwrite1699
superinscribe1741
palimpsest1880
1699 M. Lister Journey to Paris (new ed.) 108 This [MS. of St Matthew] was cut to pieces..and another Book overwritten in a small Modern Greek Hand, about 150 years ago.
1914 G. Galloway Philos. Relig. ii. 119 Egyptian Osiris, the god of Abydos, is one of those deities whose original form has been so overwritten with legend and theological construction, that it is hardly recognisable.
1968 U. K. Le Guin Wizard of Earthsea (1975) ii. 22 Small and strange was the writing, overwritten and interlined by many hands.
1992 N.Y. Times Mag. 16 Feb. 42/2 He began the puzzle by answering as many Acrosses as possible, without reference to the Downs. Later, if the Downs contradicted his entries, he merely overwrote them.
b. transitive. To write on or over (a surface, other writing, etc.); to cover with writing. Now rare.
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society > communication > writing > [verb (transitive)] > cover with writing
writec1225
to write over1649
overwrite1820
1820 Ld. Byron Let. 23 Apr. (1977) VII. 84 They have overwritten all the city walls—with ‘up with the Republic’.
1856 E. B. Browning Aurora Leigh v. 225 The Elzevirs Have fly-leaves over-written by his hand.
1879 R. C. Trench Poems 99 All o'er-writ with charactery strange.
c. transitive. Computing. To destroy (data) by entering new data in its place; to place new data in (a memory location, a file, etc.) and destroy the existing contents.
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society > computing and information technology > hardware > use hardware [verb (transitive)] > overwrite
overwrite1951
rewrite1983
1951 M. V. Wilkes et al. Prepar. Programs for Electronic Digital Computer ii. 82 Figure shift must not be called for by the original program, except in a print routine which is overwritten by C12. Print routines calling for figure shift during input must not be placed after C12 on the tape.
1973 C. W. Gear Introd. Computer Sci. vi. 245 Storing into a data area will overwrite another piece of data.
1995 What Mobile & Cellphone Mag. Feb. 32/2 When the nine slots are full, the new messages will overwrite the old, should you be too busy to delete the old ones.
2002 Which? Apr. 46/4 You may find that the last ISP you installed overwrites your browser software.
3.
a. transitive (reflexive). To exhaust oneself or diminish one's abilities by excessive writing.
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the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > weariness or exhaustion > weary or exhaust [verb (reflexive)] > in specific ways
overrun1533
overthink1628
overmusea1652
over-dance1653
overtravel1654
forfight1661
overwalk1662
over-read1668
overwrite1752
overpreach1865
outwrite1883
overshoot1883
to run out1892
society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [verb (transitive)] > exhaust by excessive writing
to write out1738
overwrite1752
outwrite1883
1752 S. Richardson Sel. Lett. 22 Feb. (1964) 196 Mr. Fielding has over-written himself, or rather under-written; and in his own journal seems ashamed of his last piece.
1753 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison (1972) xxxvii. 272 I over-writ myself, and was obliged to lie down.
1815 J. Austen Let. 31 Dec. (1995) 309 It encourages me..to believe that I have not yet..overwritten myself.
1883 Pall Mall Gaz. 8 Nov. It is a pity that the publishers induce so many young authors of promise to overwrite themselves.
b. intransitive. To write too much.
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society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [verb (intransitive)] > write excessively
overwrite1837
1837 Edinb. Rev. 64 312 Paul de Kock never overwrites.
a1889 R. Browning Let. in F. L. Lucas Tennyson (1957) iii. 21 I have written too much, my dear Mr. Gosse; I have over-written; I have written myself out.
1990 P. Ackroyd Dickens xxii. 651 Only now did he discover that he had overwritten and had to delete some seventy-six lines.
c. transitive. To write too much about (a subject). rare.
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society > communication > writing > manner of writing > [verb (transitive)] > write about excessively
overwrite1895
1895 Athenæum 3 Aug. 160/3 Golf is over-written as well as over-played now.
1956 R. Macaulay Towers of Trebizond ix. 95 England has not been over-written, at least not by foreigners, on account of its not being very attractive.
d. transitive and intransitive. To write (a work, or aspect of a work, etc.) in too elaborate or ornate a style.
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society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > ornateness > embellish [verb (transitive)] > over-embellish
overflourish1570
overdress1866
overwrite1930
1930 P. G. Wodehouse Let. 26 June in Yours, Plum (1990) 139 A nasty jar the other day. A man..wrote that he thought I had overwritten Big Money, and he sent me the book with his cuts!
1968 Punch 25 Dec. 932/3 Mr. Stegner chooses instead to invest detail with significance, and he overwrites in truly Nabokovian manner.
1987 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 11 Mar. c24/1 Today so many people overwrite, oversing, overproduce and overplay... I like music that is as simple as ordinary life.
2002 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 26 Feb. His style is creaky in patches, but he resists the all-too common temptation to embellish or overwrite an already dramatic story.
4. transitive. To rewrite.
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society > communication > writing > manner of writing > rewriting > rewrite [verb (transitive)]
to write over1555
rescribe1565
rewrite1603
repen1615
rework1837
overwrite1874
1874 B. Nicholson in New Shakspere Soc. Trans. 123 When overwriting plays, he left or worked in words and phrases that he found in the original.
1909 W. W. Lloyd Crit. Ess. on Plays Shakespeare 350 The monotonous and lame versification is..perhaps the earliest essay of Shakespeare, and we may disagree but have no quarrel with those who adopt this view in preference to casting the blame on any supposed original, that he altered and did not entirely overwrite.
1933 W. E. Orchard From Faith to Faith v. 67 It did not seem to me to matter much whether the Book of Isaiah had one or more authors, or the Pentateuch had been overwritten by different hands much later than Moses.
5. intransitive. In (esp. marine) insurance: to accept more risk than limits allow; to underwrite excessively.
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1980 Dun's Rev. (Nexis) Jan. 138 Last year, a commission was set up to investigate Lloyd's in the wake of major scandals—including a huge loss in computer insurance and major losses from ‘overwriting’ by member syndicates.]
1980 Economist 28 June 97/4 There should also be regular monitoring to ensure that underwriters do not overwrite (ie, accept more risk than their premium income limits allow).
1997 Institutional Investor 31 149–152 He also overwrote only six sevenths of his equity portfolio, and a stop-loss instituted in early 1992 helped limit damage.
2001 Lloyd's List (Nexis) 18 Oct. 1 There had been very substantial requests from syndicates to ‘overwrite’–underwriting in excess of limits set by Lloyd's at the start of the year–to take advantage of rising premium levels.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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