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literaturen.  Brit.  /ˈlɪt(ə)rᵻtʃə/, U.S. /ˈlɪdər(ə)tʃər/, /ˈlɪdərəˌtʃʊ(ə)r/, /ˈlɪtrəˌtʃʊ(ə)r/, /ˈlɪdərəˌt(j)ʊ(ə)r/Origin: A borrowing from Latin; probably modelled on a French lexical item. Etymons: Latin litterātūra, literātūra. Etymology: < classical Latin litterātūra (also literātūra) use of letters, writing, system of letters, alphabet, instruction in reading and writing, writings, scholarship < litterātus literate adj. + -ūra -ure suffix1. The semantic development of the English word was probably influenced by the senses of French littérature: ‘knowledge acquired from reading or studying books, learning, erudition’ (1467 in Middle French as litterature ; already in this sense in first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman (as literature ) in an isolated attestation), ‘writers or authors collectively’ (1680), ‘works of fiction considered collectively’ (a1740), ‘(a body of) non-fictional books and writings published on a particular subject’ (1758). Compare Spanish literatura (1487), Italian letteratura (a1667; < French). The Latin word was also borrowed into other Germanic languages; compare Dutch literatuur (1676), German Literatur (16th cent. as †Litteratur ), Swedish litteratur (1768; 1686 as †literatur ), Danish litteratur (second half of the 18th cent.). Compare earlier letter n.1, lettrure n.The β. forms are influenced by letter n.1 N.E.D. (1903) gives the pronunciation as (li·tĕrătiŭɹ) /ˈlɪtərətjʊə(r)/. the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > [noun] > book-learning, letters society > leisure > the arts > literature > [noun] > literary learning or culture c1450 tr. G. Boccaccio (1924) l. 1456 (MED) Here folowyth oon..worthyest for-to haue reuerence, Rather of men than of womans nature; For men are goven more to literature. ?a1475 (?a1425) tr. R. Higden (Harl. 2261) (1876) VI. 359 Seynte Grimbalde the monke, nobly instructe in litterature [L. litteratura] and in musyke. ?1499 J. Skelton (de Worde) sig. Bivv I knowe your vertu and your lytterkture. a1513 H. Bradshaw (1521) ii. i. sig. l.viiiv The comyn people..Whiche without lytterature, and good informacyon Ben lyke to Brute beestes. 1581 N. Burne xxv. 109 b Ane pure man, quha..hes nocht sufficient literatur to vndirstand the scripture. 1605 F. Bacon i. sig. A3v There hath not beene..any King..so learned in all literature & erudition, diuine & humane. View more context for this quotation 1624 H. Wotton sig. ¶4 After the reuiuing and repolishing of good Literature, (which the combustions and tumults of the middle Age had vnciuillized). 1669 T. Gale i. i. x. 50 Philologie, according to its original, and primitive import..implies an universal love, or respect to human Literature. 1693 J. Edwards I. vii. 239 Another..Person of infinite Literature [sc. Selden]. 1712 J. Swift 19 Till better Care be taken in the Education of our young Nobility, that they may set out into the World with some Foundation of Literature. 1743 J. Ellis ii. 122 Whenever we find a People begin to revive in Literature, it was owing..either to some Transmigrators from those Parts coming and settling among them, or else to their going thither for Instruction. 1779 S. Johnson Milton in II. 137 His literature was unquestionably great. He read all the languages which are considered either as learned or polite. 1801 M. Edgeworth Prussian Vase in III. 13 A woman of considerable information and literature. 1880 W. D. Howells xix. 290 In many things he was grotesquely ignorant; he was a man of very small literature. 1906 G. B. H. Swayze xiii. 97 Without literature or learning, the inhabitants doubtless sunk in the scale of human reverence, becoming ruder and cruder than the people from whom they originally sprang. 2005 G. Walker ii. viii. 167 That education could..be divorced from politics..would not have occurred to a writer like Elyot who was so steeped in the humanist notions of the cultural utility of literature and learning. society > leisure > the arts > literature > art or occupation of writer or author > [noun] 1663 23 I now addicted my self to..more facile pastimes of literature; Romances, and other Heroical Adblandiments. 1712 J. Addison No. 529. ¶1 All those who are any way concerned in Works of Literature. 1779 S. Johnson Cowley in I. 1 An author whose pregnancy of imagination and elegance of language have deservedly set him high in the ranks of literature. 1789 2 113/2 I now write, to inform you of the great loss we have sustained in our Neapolitan literature. 1823 I. D'Israeli 2nd Ser. I. 57 Literature, with us, exists independent of patronage or association. a1832 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel Introd., in (1833) vi. 17 I determined that literature should be my staff, but not my crutch, and that the profits of my literary labour..should not..become necessary to my ordinary expenses. 1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton II. vii. vii. 215 Ah, you make literature your calling, sir? 1879 J. Morley 9 Literature, the most seductive, the most deceiving, the most dangerous of professions. 1922 T. S. Eliot 20 Apr. (1988) I. 522 I am behindhand with a lot of work..and am about ready to chuck up literature altogether and retire. 1937 G. Greene (1969) II. ii. 83 Literature may thrive on political disturbance, if the disturbance goes deep enough. 1976 J. D. Andrew vi. 173 Literature had been moving steadily toward a journalistic ideal culminating in the various movements of ‘realism’ and ‘documentism’ at the end of the nineteenth century. 2002 M. Holroyd 6 [Biographers] are Fifth Column agents within the ranks of literature, intent on reducing all that is imaginative, all that is creative in literature, to pedestrian autobiography. 3. society > leisure > the arts > literature > [noun] 1711 Ld. Shaftesbury I. iii. 357 In mere Poetry, and the Pieces of Wit and Literature, there is a Liberty of Thought and Easiness of Humour indulg'd to us. 1749 H. Fielding I. i. x. 52 He was himself a very competent Judge in most Kinds of Literature . View more context for this quotation 1780 tr. J. Ihre Let. 1 Oct. 1776 in tr. U. von Troil xxiii. 305 Schlozer divides the Icelandic literature into three periods..the simpler period, from the beginning to the introduction of Christianity, [etc.]. 1795 5 145 The young student in Italian literature will find in these specimens a safe and intelligent guide to lead him on to further progress. 1812 H. Davy 6 Their literature, their works of art offer models that have never been excelled. 1830 L. von Mühlenfels 62 The second term of my course on Literature, when we shall, together, investigate the productions of those great minds who have restored the glory of the German character. 1857 H. T. Buckle I. v. 244 Literature, when it is in a healthy and unforced state, is simply the form in which the knowledge of a country is registered. 1859 Dec. 365 One cause of the neglect of the study of literature is the indifference to it felt by many teachers. 1874 J. R. Green vii. §7. 413 The full glory of the new literature broke on England with Edmund Spenser. 1901 G. B. Shaw p. xxiv The Diabolonian position is new to the London playgoer of today, but not to lovers of serious literature. 1910 Nov. 345 A sophomore course in nineteenth century literature, a junior course in Elizabethan literature. 1927 Feb. 217/2 It is this thought which forms the common bond of the great literature of Europe—death, mutability, the vanity of human pride. 1971 52 256 It will have important implications..for the whole theoretical question of genre study in literature. 1977 S. Sontag ii. 16 Nineteenth-century literature is stocked with descriptions of almost symptomless, unfrightened, beatific deaths from TB. 1995 D. Marc 13 I was studying literature at the state university, specializing in British romantic poetry. society > leisure > the arts > literature > a written composition > [noun] 1852 A. Edgar 111 Literature may be divided into two great classes, the popular, and the learned or exclusive. Many persons who consider the matter superficially will no doubt regard the former as a very insignificant division; but to us it appears to be by much the more important, and to be that which really and substantially constitutes literature. 1899 R. H. I. Palgrave III. 721/2 Books on Trade, Finance, and Social History, which were not considered to be ‘literature’ by any one before the appearance of the Wealth of Nations. 1951 S. Spender v. 306 Trying to distinguish the kind of writing which is literature from that which is worthless. 1972 P. Buck 75 The Chinese had a moralistic attitude toward all novels in those old days and novels were not considered literature or at best only yea shih , or ‘wild literature’. 2001 (Nexis) 22 Mar. a31 Le Carre..[is] a mystery writer who produces literature. At least what I consider to be literature. The argument about what constitutes literature will probably go on forever. society > leisure > the arts > literature > [noun] > body of literature on a subject 1797 Oct. 263/2 Skene, Craig, and Hope..enriched the juridical literature of Scotland with works of high erudition and usefulness. 1826 J. C. Loudon (new ed.) i. 130 The literature of English agriculture from the revolution is rich in excellent works. 1860 J. Tyndall i. vi. 44 I was well acquainted with the literature of the subject. 1879 G. C. Harlan i. 9 It..has accumulated a literature of its own which an ordinary lifetime is hardly long enough to master. 1901 28 Dec. 730/1 A valuable addition to pharmacopedic literature. 1958 A. R. Radcliffe-Brown ii. i. 139 There is an abundant literature on the subjects of social philosophy, political philosophy,..and the philosophy of art. 1971 25 June 499/1 We have searched the literature for reliable radiometric ages for Late Pre-Cambrian glaciogenic rocks, but they seem to be rare. 2004 29 Nov. 82/1 Much of the existing Schulzian literature dwells on the Charlie Brownish traumas in his early life. society > communication > printing > printed matter > [noun] 1859 1 Oct. 7/3 The ‘cheap literature’ displayed on tall boards..confines itself mainly to tariffs of the tolls to be levied on horses..and cattle... Tabulated literature, financial as it is, may afford you some information as to weights and measures. 1895 20 Nov. 5/2 In canvassing, in posters, and in the distribution of what, by a profane perversion of language, is called ‘literature’. 1938 P. G. Wodehouse i. 8 It is some literature from the Travel Bureau. 1973 D. Francis vii. 78 I talked my throat dry, gave away sheaves of persuasive literature. 2006 No. 43. 84/3 The literature claims you can shoot at 2.5fps until the card's full, this only holds true for high-quality JPEGs at high levels of compression. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  n.c1450 |