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

Princeton's WordNet(4.66 / 20 votes)Rate this definition:

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(3.34 / 9 votes)Rate this definition:

1. literaturenoun

   The body of all written works.

   Etymology: From literatura or litteratura.

2. literaturenoun

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

   Etymology: From literatura or litteratura.

3. literaturenoun

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

   Etymology: From literatura or litteratura.

4. literaturenoun

   Written fiction of a high standard.

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

   Etymology: From literatura or litteratura.

Wikipedia(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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.

Webster Dictionary(3.75 / 8 votes)Rate this definition:

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

Freebase(3.69 / 19 votes)Rate this definition:

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(4.50 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

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. literatura—litera, a letter.]

The Nuttall Encyclopedia(3.67 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

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(2.50 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. literature

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

U.S. National Library of Medicine(3.33 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

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)

Matched Categories

1. • Literary Study
   • Literature
   • Profession
   • Writing

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. literatuer

2. literateur

How to pronounce literature?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Paul de Man:

   Literature... is condemned (or privileged) to be forever the most rigorous and, consequently, the most reliable of terms in which man names and transforms himself.

2. Ezra Pound:

   If a nation's literature declines, the nation atrophies and decays.

3. Agata Groyecka:

   Although the literature about human's voice and olfaction has grown rapidly in past decades, we were not surprised to find that the biggest share of papers regarding attractiveness focuses on physical appearance, olfaction and audition are largely neglected in reviews about attractiveness.

4. Jean-Paul Sartre:

   If literature isn't everything, it's not worth a single hour of someone's trouble.

5. Phillips Brooks:

   Life comes before literature, as the material always comes before the work. The hills are full of marble before the world blooms with statues.

Images & Illustrations of literature

Popularity rank by frequency of use