Origin and history of write-down

"in a descending direction, from a higher to a lower place, degree, or condition," late Old English shortened form of Old English ofdune "downwards," originally of dune "off from (the) hill," from dune "from the hill," dative of dun "hill" (see down (n.2)). The "hill" word is general in Germanic, but this sense development is peculiar to English. As a preposition, "in a descending direction upon or along," from late 14c.

To be down on "express disapproval of" is by 1851. Down home is from 1828 as "in one's home region," as an adjective phrase meaning "unpretentious" by 1931, American English. Down the hatch as a toast is from 1931. Down to the wire is 1901, from horse-racing.

Down Under "Australia and New Zealand" attested from 1886; Down East "Maine" is from 1825; Down South "in the Southern states of the U.S." is attested by 1834. Down the road "in the future" is by 1964, U.S. colloquial. Down-to-earth "everyday, ordinary, realistic" is by 1932.

Old English writan "to score, outline, draw the figure of," later "to set down in writing, be acquainted with the craft of letters, set forth as an author" (class I strong verb; past tense wrat, past participle writen).

This is from Proto-Germanic *writan "tear, scratch," which also is the source of Old Frisian writa "to write," Old Saxon writan "to tear, scratch, write," Old Norse rita "write, scratch, outline," Old High German rizan "to write, scratch, tear," German reißen "to tear, pull, tug, sketch, draw, design"). Outside connections are doubtful.

According to Buck, words for "write" in most Indo-European languages originally mean "carve, scratch, cut" (such as Latin scribere, Greek graphein, glyphein, Sanskrit rikh-); a few originally meant "paint" (Gothic meljan, Old Church Slavonic pisati, and most of the modern Slavic cognates).

In English, the meaning "exchange letters" is by mid-14c.; that of "communicate in writing" is by c. 1400.

To be writ large (1640s) is literally to be formed in large, prominent letters, but the use is chiefly figurative. To write over is by 1580s as "write anew or again," by 1828 as "cover (a surface) with writing."

For men use to write an evill turne in marble stone, but a good turne in the dust. [More, 1513]

On the dismissive side, writerling "petty, sorry, or inferior writer" is by 1802; writation "poor or insipid writing" by 1778; writative "disposed or addicted to writing" by 1736.