lit|er|a|ture

lit|er|a|ture «LIHT uhr uh chur, -chuhr; LIHT ruh-», noun.

1. the writings of a period, language, or country, especially those kept alive by their beauty of style or thought: »

the literature of Greece. Shakespeare is a great name in English literature. The particular concern of the literature of the last two centuries has been with the self in its standing quarrel with culture (Newsweek).

SYNONYM(S): belles-lettres.

2. all the books and articles on a subject: »

the literature of stamp collecting.

3. writing books as a profession; literary production: »

Never pursue literature as a trade (Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

4. the study of literature: »

I shall take literature and mathematics this spring. Hoagland spent some time as a cagehand with the circus, when he was not studying literature at Harvard (Newsweek).

5. Informal. printed matter of any kind: »

election campaign literature.

6. Rare. acquaintance with the world of letters or books; literary culture: »

another person of infinite literature (John Selden).

╂[< Middle French literature teaching of letters; writing < Latin litterātūra writing < littera letter (in the plural, literature, learning)]