literaturelit‧e‧ra‧ture /ˈlɪtərətʃə $ -tʃʊr/ ●●● S3 W2 noun [uncountable] 
He has read many of the major works of literature. Italian literature► see thesaurus at book2all the books, articles etc on a particular subjectliterature on literature on the history of sciencein the literature Several cases of mercury poisoning have been recorded in the literature.3printed information produced by people who want to sell you something or tell you about something: sales literature
WORD ORIGINliterature
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French, Latin litteratura, from litteratus; ➔ LITERATEEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- "The Sun Also Rises" is a classic of American literature.
- a master's degree in Asian literature
- I teach Japanese literature.
- medical literature
- Mitterrand's oratory and writings displayed a wide grasp of history, philosophy, religion and literature.
- She's studying European literature at the University of Illinois.
- She is a professor of language and literature at Arizona State University.
- the Nobel Prize for Literature
- Income tax guidebooks are the ultimate in obligation literature.
- Like most modern literature, the new narrative reflects the ontological uncertainty of contemporary man.
- Some researchers have argued that hypotheses are formulated before the review of literature formally begins.
- The romantic thread, developed primarily through art and literature, idealizes family relationships.
- The struggle produced at least two first-rate publications in the field of political literature.
- These were present in literature and art as well as in medicine.
- We want people who have read some literature.
- Where needed the Police are supplying road safety literature, advice and instruction.
THESAURUStypes of book
noun [countable] a book about imaginary people and events: · The film is based on Nick Hornby’s best-selling novel.· a historical novel
noun [uncountable] books that describe imaginary people and events: · She reads a lot of romantic fiction.
noun [uncountable] novels and plays that are considered to be important works of art: · I’m studying American literature at university.
noun [uncountable] books that describe real people and events: · Men tend to prefer non-fiction.
noun [uncountable] books about imaginary events in the future or space travel
noun [countable] a book such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, which you look at to find information
noun [countable] a book about a particular subject that you use in a classroom
British English British English noun [countable] a book that you have to study as part of your course
noun [countable] a book telling visitors about a city or country
noun [countable] a book for children with many pictures in it
noun [countable] a book that has a hard stiff cover
noun [countable] a book that has a paper cover
noun [countable] a book about a real person’s life, written by another person
noun [countable] a book that someone has written about their own life
British English (also cookbook American English) noun [countable] a book that tells you how to cook different meals
Longman Language Activatora book about imaginary people and events a book about people and events that the writer has imagined: · The new Sidney Shelton novel is to be adapted for film later in the year.· This is the study where Hemingway wrote the legendary novels 'Death in the Afternoon' and 'For Whom the Bell Tolls'.novel by: · The movie is based on a novel by Anne Tyler.historical novel (=about people and events in the past): · Butler has also written several historical novels under the pen-name of Jenny Melville.romantic novel (=about love): · Johnston's nudes look like cover art for romantic novels.first/debut novel (=the first novel that someone writes): · Keller's debut novel is about a Korean woman who was sold into prostitution during World War II.
books about imaginary people and events: · His first novel won a prize for modern fiction.· I'm taking a class in Victorian fiction.romantic fiction (=about love): · This small band of women writers dominated the romantic fiction market for a number of years.historical fiction (=about people and events in the past): · Anthony's first books were historical fiction.crime/detective fiction: · Why is Miami such a ripe setting for crime fiction?· Chandler remains the greatest exponent of detective fiction.
books, plays, and poems, especially famous and serious ones that people think are important: · the Nobel Prize for Literature· She is a professor of language and literature at Arizona State University.· Mitterrand's oratory and writings displayed a wide grasp of history, philosophy, religion and literature.French/Hispanic/Hebrew etc literature: · I teach Japanese literature.· She's studying European literature at the University of Illinois.
also sci-fi informal stories about things that happen in the future or in other parts of the universe: · Science fiction is often wrongly regarded as a 'lesser' form of literature.· Joanne says she is not a fan of science fiction, and has never read her husband's book.· Such developments sound like science fiction, but they're not.
informal a book about an imaginary murder case, in which you do not find out who did the murder until the end: · If you enjoy a whodunnit, you'll lap up Janet Laurence's "Hotel Morgue".· an Agatha Christie whodunnit
an exciting story, for example about a crime or war, in which surprising events happen suddenly and you never know what will happen next: · They discovered a mutual love of mysteries and thrillers.political/psychological/spy etc thriller: · Stephen King's new psychological thriller· He has written a spy thriller that recalls Fleming's James Bond series.· His latest work is a legal thriller set in Boston.
a short piece of writing in which the writer tells a story: · She started out writing short stories for the magazine 'Black Mask'.· I understand your novel was inspired by a short story by Katherine Mansfield.· a collection of American short stories
WORD SETSacrostic, nounadapt, verballiteration, nounanagram, nounannual, nounanthology, nounantihero, nounapologia, nounappendix, nounassonance, nounauthorship, nounautobiography, nounballad, nounbard, nounbathos, nounbiography, nounblank verse, nounbowdlerize, verbburlesque, nouncaesura, nouncameo, nouncanon, nouncanto, nouncaricature, nounchapter, nouncharacterization, nouncitation, nounclimax, nounclimax, verbcoda, nouncollected, adjectiveconceit, nouncorpus, nouncouplet, nouncritique, noundactyl, noundeclamatory, adjectivedeconstruction, noundense, adjectivedevice, noundialogue, noundiarist, noundiction, noundigest, noundoggerel, noundraft, noundraft, verbdrama, noundub, nounelegy, nounending, nounepic, adjectiveepigram, nounepilogue, nounepistolary, adjectiveepitaph, nounessay, nounessayist, nouneulogy, nounexegesis, nounfable, nounfairy tale, nounfantasy, nounfiction, nounfictional, adjectivefirst edition, nounfirst person, nounflashback, nounflorid, adjectiveflowery, adjectivefolk, adjectiveforeword, nounformulaic, adjectivefree verse, nounghost story, nounGothic, adjectivegrandiloquent, adjectivehaiku, nounheroic, adjectiveheroic couplet, nounhexameter, nounhumorist, nounhyperbole, nouniamb, nouniambic pentameter, nounimage, nounimagery, nouninformal, adjectiveingénue, nouninstalment, nounirony, nounjournal, nounlay, nounlimerick, nounlit., literary, adjectiveliterature, nounlyric, adjectivelyric, nounlyrical, adjectivelyricism, nounman of letters, nounmanuscript, nounmetaphor, nounmetaphorical, adjectivemetre, nounmetrical, adjectivemonologue, nounnarrative, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounnaturalistic, adjectivenom de plume, nounnovel, nounnovelist, nounnovella, nounnursery rhyme, nounode, nounonomatopoeia, nounpadding, nounpaean, nounparagraph, nounparaphrase, verbparaphrase, nounparenthetical, adjectivepassage, nounpathetic fallacy, nounpen name, nounpentameter, nounperiphrasis, nounperoration, nounpicaresque, adjectiveplaywright, nounplot, nounpoem, nounpoet, nounpoetess, nounpoetic, adjectivepoetic licence, nounpoet laureate, nounpoetry, nounpolemic, nounpolemical, adjectivepotboiler, nounprécis, nounpreface, nounprefatory, adjectiveprologue, nounprose, nounprosody, nounprotagonist, nounpseudonym, nounpulp, nounquatrain, nounquotation, nounquote, verbreading, nounrecite, verbrendition, nounrevise, verbrevision, nounrhetoric, nounrhyme, nounrhyme, verbromance, nounsaga, nounsatire, nounsatirist, nounscience fiction, nounscribbler, nounscript, nounself-portrait, nounSF, Shakespearean, adjectiveshort story, nounsimile, nounsoliloquy, nounsonnet, nounstanza, nounstilted, adjectivestory, nounstream of consciousness, nounstylist, nounsubplot, nounsubtitle, nounsuperhero, nounsurrealism, nounsurrealistic, adjectivesynopsis, nountailpiece, nountale, nountalking book, nountearjerker, nountext, nountextual, adjectivetexture, nountheme, nounthriller, nountitle, nountragedian, nountragedy, nountragic, adjectivetragicomedy, nountrope, nounturgid, adjectiveunabridged, adjectiveverse, nounvignette, nounvolume, nounweepy, nounwell-turned, adjectivewhodunit, nounwriter, nounwriter's block, nounyarn, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY He has read many of the major works of literature.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
He has read many of the major works of literature.· Nothing compares with Florence's beautiful 15th-century architecture.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· In classical literature and ethics hypocrisy is condemned as undermining the essential distinction between good and evil.· There are many references in classical literature to Orphic poetry and Orphic rites.· For example: is the subject taken from classical literature with its firm structural rules like those which govern Balanchine's Apollo?· This lasting antipathy coexisted in his mind with a rare mastery of philosophical debate and classical literature.
· A number of important, and highly linked, themes emerged during our discussion of the contemporary literature on the biotic order.· This proliferating self-examination, however, has often been seen as an unlikeable, irresponsible tendency in contemporary literature.· Their written forms, like autobiographies, biographies, and interviews, make up a large part of contemporary western feminist literature.· These procedures are generating an increasingly large part of contemporary feminist literature.· In the 1750s, the place of women in contemporary literature was much more widely recognized.· Don't feel virtuous: charity is only a by-product of this very good sampler of contemporary literature.
· It is equally important for them to read and hear and speak the great literature of the past.· And I imagined it, as one does the illusions of great art and literature, in the most real fashion possible.· One replies that one can live by it as by great literature.· Barthes managed to leave the great works of literature intact.· Plenty of singers, wisely or otherwise, have modelled themselves on the heroes and villains of great literature.· Disagreement is mainly about whether great literature or the children's own environment and experiences should provide the stimuli for this work.· Life, she felt vaguely but powerfully, was more than fervent chats about great literature.· Probably because it is high entertainment, not serious social comment or great literature.
· A peer review would require no more than a scan of the vast international medical literature.· Doctors stop short of saying the disease is always fatal, but medical literature paints a bleak picture.
· Like most modern literature, the new narrative reflects the ontological uncertainty of contemporary man.· It is a fact that the classics of Yiddish literature are also the classics of the modern Hebrew literature.
· The position and height of the surge are determined by the relative importance of recent and older literature in different disciplines.· One such is provided in recent Marxist literature.· Here, the recent literature suggests that four main things may affect the initial selection of graduates.· It should provide a readable condensation of the recent literature: a critical appraisal, not a mere catalogue.· This was doing reasonably well by seventeenth-century standards for recent literature.· Hart's Book selection and use in academic libraries provides a useful summary of recent literature.· Both works were published two decades ago, and need to be supplemented by evaluation of more recent literature.· All chapters include numerous references to the recent literature, but this is not merely a compilation of the work of others.
· Finally the extensive index and reference citation helps the reader to find relevant literature.· When this begins to happen, you will know that the relevant literature is being covered by your search.· Perhaps its most useful asset is that it enables the user to locate references in relevant literature.· Product leaflets and other materials in support of submissions should not be discouraged and suppliers may well be requested to enclose relevant literature.· Such quantities are determined by standard tests on standard samples and the data collected in the relevant literature.· The librarian may be able to carry out a relevant literature search.
· Aitken's work covered a wide spectrum of physical science, and he had some ninety-eight contributions published in scientific literature.· In 1988, he stumbled across an indirect link in the scientific literature between Raynaud's disease and dietary fish oil.· Then, it was described in the scientific literature.· He also wrote extensively in the scientific literature.· In clinical practice we try to keep up with the scientific literature and adapt our actions accordingly.· Their failure to make the most of the scientific literature seems to begin early in their academic careers.
· Documentary research in the technical literature was undertaken to plan interviews and to identify key areas of technological innovation and technical uncertainty.· Much of the technical literature on the subject seems to confuse the two sets of questions distinguished in this section.· These matters are the subject of a large and technical literature.· In the technical literature, virtual unanimity reigns: most of the variation among individual IQs is due to variation in genes.· Many of the requests are for practical, technical and vocational literature for all levels, from secondary schooling upwards.· The technical literature suggests that structural factors may have been more important than price factors in explaining the persistent deficit.
NOUN· The index is good but the references do not provide easy access to the research literature.· Pantony scrupulously studied the research literature, using comprehensive computer searches to find studies that might be relevant.· In the child research literature there seems to be a greater concern over ethical issues than in other areas.· What can be gleaned from the complex research literature?· The result is clear - there is large research literature on dissatisfaction and disillusionment.· Needless to say, the research literature is full of argument and counter-argument about the explanations of agreed associations between factors.
· A moral: Our literature reviews should not ignore literature.· To be sure, the literature review has several real uses.· In the first instance this includes a literature review.
VERB· Another important aim for the pupil is to acquire knowledge and understanding of the civilisation which produced the literature to be studied.· There is a problem if a fund has produced sales literature with a positive rating that changes for the worse.· A world which produces a literature that, at its best, celebrates essential and transcendent human qualities.· The only way they can market their products is to produce literature detailed enough to convince the prospective buyer.· It has inevitably produced a massive literature.
· We want people who have read some literature.· Do you ever read twentieth-century literature?· I had read the literature, listened to the tape and examined the glossy brochure.· We know from reading the literature that there are many ways to implement a neural network.· When I read the Epoch literature I am always convinced by it.· I read the literature, and became acquainted with the work of John Gurdon.· Become determined to develop your expertise using a self-help approach. Read the literature and learn.· If you read all the official literature you will conclude that the result is a tremendous success.
· Literature is not a book on how to study literature, but on how to use it for language practice.· In graduate school, when I was studying literature, to know the writers and critics was to know a universe.· Zborowski had arrived in Paris before the war to study literature on a government grant.· Pantony scrupulously studied the research literature, using comprehensive computer searches to find studies that might be relevant.
· It is Leavis rather than Lewis who, when he writes of literature, sounds washed in the blood of the Lamb.· Tok Pisin has a writing system, a literature, and even radio programs.· He writes a literary literature that causes no pain.· Often the easiest way to help children write literature is to first encourage them to draw.· She wrote travel literature and lived much of her later life abroad.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- One of the characteristics of Romantic literature is the interaction or rapport between man and nature.
WORD FAMILYnounliteratureliteracy ≠ illiteracyilliterateliteratiadjectiveliteraryliterate ≠ illiterate
1books, plays, poems etc that people think are important and good: He has read many of the major works of literature. Italian literature► see thesaurus at book2all the books, articles etc on a particular subjectliterature on literature on the history of sciencein the literature Several cases of mercury poisoning have been recorded in the literature.3printed information produced by people who want to sell you something or tell you about something: sales literature