Writ

ORIGINAL, practice, in the English law. An original writ is a mandatory letter issuing out of the court of chancery, under the great seal, and, in the king’s name, directed to the sheriff of the county where the injury is alleged to have been committed, containing a summary statement of the cause of complaint, and requiring him, in most cases, to command the defendant to satisfy the claim; and, on his failure to comply, then to summon him to appear in one of the superior courts of common law, there to account for his non compliance. In some cases, however, it omits the former alternative, and requires the sheriff simply to enforce the appearance.

Steph. Pl. 5.