literature
[ lit-er-uh-cher, -choor, li-truh- ]
/ ˈlɪt ər ə tʃər, -ˌtʃʊər, ˈlɪ trə- /
noun
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Origin of literature
synonym study 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.
OTHER WORDS FROM literature
pre·lit·er·a·ture, nounDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
Example sentences from the Web for literature
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
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