literature

[ lit-er-uh-cher, -choo r, li-truh- ]

/ ˈlɪt ər ə tʃər, -ˌtʃʊər, ˈlɪ trə- /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR literature ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.

the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc.: the literature of England.

the writings dealing with a particular subject: the literature of ornithology.

the profession of a writer or author.

literary work or production.

any kind of printed material, as circulars, leaflets, or handbills: literature describing company products.

Archaic. polite learning; literary culture; appreciation of letters and books.

Nearby words

Origin of literature

1375–1425; late Middle English litterature < Latin litterātūra grammar. See literate, -ure

SYNONYMS FOR literature

1. Literature, belles-lettres, letters refer to artistic writings worthy of being remembered. In the broadest sense, literature includes any type of writings on any subject: the literature of medicine; usually, however, it means the body of artistic writings of a country or period that are characterized by beauty of expression and form and by universality of intellectual and emotional appeal: English literature of the 16th century. Belles-lettres is a more specific term for writings of a light, elegant, or excessively refined character: His talent is not for scholarship but for belles-lettres. Letters (rare today outside of certain fixed phrases) refers to literature as a domain of study or creation: a man of letters.

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Related formspre·lit·er·a·ture, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for literature

The religion shaped all facets of life: art, medicine, literature, and even dynastic politics.
The Buddhist Business of Poaching Animals for Good Karma|Brendon Hong|December 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Speaking of the literature you love, the Bloomsbury writers crop up in your collection repeatedly.
Daphne Merkin on Lena Dunham, Book Criticism, and Self-Examination|Mindy Farabee|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Literature in the 14th century, Strohm points out, was an intimate, interactive affair.
A Year In The Life of The Canterbury Tales’ Storied Beginnings|Wendy Smith|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Fruitcake quickly acclimated to its American home, and even plays a supporting role in American literature.
One Cake to Rule Them All: How Stollen Stole Our Hearts|Molly Hannon|December 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Celebrities flocked to this glamorous and buzzy temple of literature and culture.
The Bookstore That Bewitched Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Greta Garbo|Felice Picano|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He was an elector, and had a taste for music and literature.
Dealings With The Dead|A Sexton of the Old School
But he was not on that account forced to confine himself to literature.
Stories of Authors, British and American|Edwin Watts Chubb
The material used was flannel, and such interments are frequently mentioned in the literature of the time.
A History of Mourning|Richard Davey
The historians of literature scarcely deign to mention a few names, or the editors of selections to extract a few sonnets.
Introduction to the Literature of Europe in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Centuries, Vol. 1|Henry Hallam
But more important to the historian of literature even than the development of qualities is the evolution of types.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 6|Various

British Dictionary definitions for literature

literature

/ (ˈlɪtərɪtʃə, ˈlɪtrɪ-) /

noun

written material such as poetry, novels, essays, etc, esp works of imagination characterized by excellence of style and expression and by themes of general or enduring interest

the body of written work of a particular culture or peopleScandinavian literature

written or printed matter of a particular type or on a particular subjectscientific literature; the literature of the violin

printed material giving a particular type of informationsales literature

the art or profession of a writer

obsolete learning

Word Origin for literature

C14: from Latin litterātūra writing; see letter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for literature

literature

late 14c., from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from litera/littera "letter" (see letter (n.1)). Originally "book learning" (it replaced Old English boccræft), the meaning "literary production or work" is first attested 1779 in Johnson's "Lives of the English Poets" (he didn't include this definition in his dictionary, however); that of "body of writings from a period or people" is first recorded 1812.

Great literature is simply language charged with meaning to the utmost possible degree. [Ezra Pound, "ABC of Reading"]

Meaning "the whole of the writing on a particular subject" is from 1860; sense of "printed matter generally" is from 1895. The Latin word also is the source of Spanish literatura, Italian letteratura, German Literatur.

literature

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of literature

Examples from the Web for literature

literature

noun

Word Origin for literature

literature