literature

English Online Dictionary. What means literature‎? What does literature mean?

English

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Alternative forms

• lit. (abbreviation)
• literatuer (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English literature, from Old French littérature, from Latin literatura or litteratura, from littera (“letter”), from Etruscan, from Ancient Greek διφθέρᾱ (diphthérā, “tablet”). Displaced native Old English bōccræft.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹət͡ʃə(ɹ)/
• (Canada, US) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtɚət͡ʃɚ/, [ˈlɪɾɚət͡ʃɚ], /ˈlɪtɹət͡ʃɚ/, [ˈlɪt͡ʃɹət͡ʃɚ], /ˈlɪtɚt͡ʃɚ/
• (Midwestern US English) IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtət͡ʃɚ/
• (Indic) IPA^(key): /ˌliʈ(a)ˈɾeːt͡ʃa(ɾ)/

Noun

literature (usually uncountable, plural literatures)

2. The body of all written works.
4. The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group, or culture.
6. (usually preceded by the) All the papers, treatises, etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject.
8. Written fiction of a high standard.
   • 2008, Adam Cadre

     However, even “literary” science fiction rarely qualifies as literature, because it treats characters as sets of traits rather than as fully realized human beings with unique life stories.

   Synonym: literary fiction

10. (obsolete) Literacy; ability to read and write.

Meronyms

• See also Thesaurus:literature

Derived terms

Related terms

• letter
• literal
• literacy
• literate
• literary

Translations

Further reading

• "literature" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 183.

Anagrams

• literateur, literatuer