indite

Verb

indite (third-person singular simple present indites, present participle inditing, simple past and past participle indited)

1. (transitive) To physically make (letters and words) on a writing surface; to inscribe.
2. (transitive) To write (something, especially a literary or artistic work); to compose.
   • From a VVriter of Books, our Author is already dvvindled to a Preface-monger, and from Prefaces I am confident he may in a ſhort time be improved to endite Tickets for the Bear-Garden.1672, [Andrew Marvell], The Rehearsal Transpros’d: Or, Animadversions upon a Late Book, Entituled, A Preface, Shewing what Grounds there are of Fears and Jealousies of Popery, London: [s.n.], →OCLC...
   • It is certain that the mere act of inditing tends, in a great degree, to the logicalisation of thought. Whenever, on account of its vagueness, I am dissatisfied with a conception of the brain, I resort forthwith to the pen, for the purpose of obtaining, through its aid, the necessary form...1844, E. A. Poe, Marginalia
3. To dictate (something); to prompt.
   • My heart is inditing a good matter.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 45:1
   • Could a common grief have indited such expressions?a. 1717 (date written), Robert South, “(please specify the sermon number)”, in Five Additional Volumes of Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume (please specify |volume=VII to XI)...
4. (obsolete) To ask or invite (someone).
   • She vvill endite him to ſome ſupper.c. 1591–1595 (date written), [William Shakespeare], […] Romeo and Iuliet. […] (Second Quarto), London: […] Thomas Creede, for Cuthbert Burby, […], published 1599, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], signature...
5. (obsolete) To indict (someone); to accuse; to censure.
   • the wonder that my wit cannot endite1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “(please specify the sonnet number or title)”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC
   • Two cases of cattle-stealing were dealt with, in which three natives were indited, two males, and one female. The two men were found guilty […]1901 October 11, “District Reports”, in The Agricultural Journal and Mining Record, volume 4, number 16, page 483

Noun

UK/ˈɪndaɪt/

indite (uncountable)

1. An extremely rare indium-iron sulfide mineral.