What does Literature mean?

Definitions for Literature
ˈlɪt ər ə tʃər, -ˌtʃʊər, ˈlɪ trə-lit·er·a·ture

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word Literature.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. literaturenoun

    creative writing of recognized artistic value

  2. literature, litnoun

    the humanistic study of a body of literature

    "he took a course in Russian lit"

  3. literaturenoun

    published writings in a particular style on a particular subject

    "the technical literature"; "one aspect of Waterloo has not yet been treated in the literature"

  4. literaturenoun

    the profession or art of a writer

    "her place in literature is secure"

Wiktionary

  1. literaturenoun

    The body of all written works.

  2. literaturenoun

    The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group or culture.

  3. literaturenoun

    All the papers, treatises etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject.

  4. literaturenoun

    Written fiction of a high standard.

    SF is rarely literature because the characters are so poorly realised. - Adam Cadre

  5. Etymology: From literatura or litteratura.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Literaturenoun

    Learning; skill in letters.

    Etymology: literatura, Latin.

    This kingdom hath been famous for good literature; and if preferment attend deservers, there will not want supplies. Francis Bacon, Advice to Villiers.

    When men of learning are acted by a knowledge of the world, they give a reputation to literature, and convince the world of its usefulness. Joseph Addison, Freeholder, №. 377.

Wikipedia

  1. Literature

    Literature broadly is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed. Literature is a method of recording, preserving, and transmitting knowledge and entertainment, and can also have a social, psychological, spiritual, or political role. Literature, as an art form, can also include works in various non-fiction genres, such as biography, diaries, memoir, letters, and the essay. Within its broad definition, literature includes non-fictional books, articles or other printed information on a particular subject.Etymologically, the term derives from Latin literatura/litteratura "learning, a writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from litera/littera "letter". In spite of this, the term has also been applied to spoken or sung texts. Developments in print technology have allowed an ever-growing distribution and proliferation of written works, which now includes electronic literature. Literature is classified according to whether it is poetry, prose or drama, and such works are categorized according to historical periods, or their adherence to certain aesthetic features, or genre.

ChatGPT

  1. literature

    Literature can be defined as written works, including fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fiction, that are considered to possess artistic or intellectual merit and are intended to be read and appreciated for their literary qualities. It encompasses various forms of storytelling and expression, often reflecting the cultural, social, historical, and individual experiences and perspectives of the authors. Literature is typically characterized by its creative use of language, narrative structure, symbolism, and thematic exploration, and it has the power to entertain, educate, inspire, and provoke thought and reflection.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Literaturenoun

    learning; acquaintance with letters or books

  2. Literaturenoun

    the collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also, the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of knowledge, or of a given country or period; as, the literature of Biblical criticism; the literature of chemistry

  3. Literaturenoun

    the class of writings distinguished for beauty of style or expression, as poetry, essays, or history, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge; belles-lettres

  4. Literaturenoun

    the occupation, profession, or business of doing literary work

Wikidata

  1. Literature

    Literature is the art of written work and can, in some circumstances, refer exclusively to published sources. The word literature literally means "things made from letters" and the pars pro toto term "letters" is sometimes used to signify "literature," as in the figures of speech "arts and letters" and "man of letters." Literature is commonly classified as having two major forms—fiction & non-fiction—and two major techniques—poetry and prose. Literature may consist of texts based on factual information, as well as on original imagination, such as polemical works as well as autobiography, and reflective essays as well as belles-lettres. Literature can be classified according to historical periods, genres, and political influences. The concept of genre, which earlier was limited, has broadened over the centuries. A genre consists of artistic works which fall within a certain central theme, and examples of genre include romance, mystery, crime, fantasy, erotica, and adventure, among others. Important historical periods in English literature include Old English, Middle English, the Renaissance, the 17th Century Shakespearean and Elizabethan times, the 18th Century Restoration, 19th Century Victorian, and 20th Century Modernism. Important intellectual movements that have influenced the study of literature include feminism, post-colonialism, psychoanalysis, post-structuralism, post-modernism, romanticism, and Marxism.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Literature

    lit′ėr-a-tūr, n. the science of letters or what is written: the whole body of literary compositions in any language, or on a given subject: all literary productions except those relating to positive science and art, usually confined, however, to the belles-lettres.—adj. Lit′eratured (Shak.), learned, having literary knowledge.—Light literature, books which can be read and understood without mental exertion: fiction; Polite literature, belles-lettres. [Fr.,—L. literaturalitera, a letter.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia

  1. Literature

    defined by Carlyle "as an 'apocalypse of nature,' a revealing of the 'open secret,' a 'continuous revelation' of the God-like in the terrestrial and common, which ever endures there, and is brought out now in this dialect, now in that, with various degrees of clearness ... there being touches of it (i. e. the God-like) in the dark stormful indignation of a Byron, nay, in the withered mockery of a French sceptic, his mockery of the false, a love and worship of the true ... how much more in the sphere harmony of a Shakespeare, the cathedral music of a Milton; something of it too in those humble, genuine, lark-notes of a Burns, skylark starting from the humble furrow far overhead into the blue depths, and singing to us so genuinely there."

The Roycroft Dictionary

  1. literature

    The art of saying a thing by saying something else just as good.

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Literature

    Writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of permanent or universal interest. The body of written works produced in a particular language, country, or age. (Webster, 3d ed)

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Literature' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #1951

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Literature' in Written Corpus Frequency: #4389

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'Literature' in Nouns Frequency: #886

Anagrams for Literature »

  1. literateur

  2. literatuer

How to pronounce Literature?

How to say Literature in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of Literature in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of Literature in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of Literature in a Sentence

  1. Matthew Arnold:

    Journalism is literature in a hurry.

  2. Ralph Waldo Emerson:

    Proverbs are the literature of reason, or the statements of absolute truth, without qualification. Like the sacred books of each nation, they are the sanctuary of its intuitions.

  3. Salman Rushdie:

    Woe to that nation whose literature is cut short by the intrusion of force. This is not merely interference with freedom of the press but the sealing up of a nation's heart, the excision of its memory.

  4. Eleanor Roosevelt:

    The reason that fiction is more interesting than any other form of literature, to those who really like to study people, is that in fiction the author can really tell the truth without humiliating himself.

  5. Sinclair Lewis:

    Our American professors like their literature clear and cold and pure and very dead.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

Literature#1#1769#10000

Translations for Literature

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"Literature." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/Literature>.

Discuss these Literature definitions with the community:

2 Comments
  • Glendy John Malalis
    Glendy John Malalis
    botbot
    LikeReply6 years ago
  • Gopal Das Rajpout
    Gopal Das Rajpout
    it s way on the writing
    LikeReply 38 years ago

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