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literature - Meaning and Examples

Meaning of 'literature' (Webster Dictionary)

1 . Literature [ n.]
- Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.
- 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.
- 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.
- The occupation, profession, or business of doing literary work.

Meaning of 'literature' (Princeton's WordNet)

1 . literature [ n]
Meaning (1):
- the humanistic study of a body of literature
Example in sentence:
  • he took a course in Russian lit
Meaning (2):
- the profession or art of a writer
Example in sentence:
  • her place in literature is secure
Meaning (3):
- published writings in a particular style on a particular subject
Example in sentence:
  • one aspect of Waterloo has not yet been treated in the literature;
  • the technical literature

Nearby Words:

lit litanies litany litarge litate litchi lite liter literacy literal

See 'literature' also in:

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Related Definitions

  • Secondary literature
    Secondary literature in the social sciences, a scholar’s work about another scientist’s theory or writings. Textbooks and encyclopedias are secondary rather than primary literature.

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