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literature

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lit⋅er⋅a⋅ture

  [lit-er-uh-cher, -choor, li-truh-]
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–noun
1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays.
2. the entire body of writings of a specific language, period, people, etc.: the literature of England.
3. the writings dealing with a particular subject: the literature of ornithology.
4. the profession of a writer or author.
5. literary work or production.
6. any kind of printed material, as circulars, leaflets, or handbills: literature describing company products.
7. Archaic. polite learning; literary culture; appreciation of letters and books.
Origin:
1375–1425; late ME litterature < L litterātūra grammar. See literate, -ure

Synonyms:
1. Literature, belles-lettres, letters refer to artistic writings worthy of being remembered. In the broadest sense, literature includes any type of writings on any subject: the literature of medicine; usually, however, it means the body of artistic writings of a country or period that are characterized by beauty of expression and form and by universality of intellectual and emotional appeal: English literature of the 16th century. Belles-lettres is a more specific term for writings of a light, elegant, or excessively refined character: His talent is not for scholarship but for belles-lettres. Letters (rare today outside of certain fixed phrases) refers to literature as a domain of study or creation: a man of letters.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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lit·er·a·ture   (lĭt'ər-ə-chŏŏr', -chər)   
n.  

  1. The body of written works of a language, period, or culture.

  2. Imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value: "Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity" (Rebecca West).

  3. The art or occupation of a literary writer.

  4. The body of written work produced by scholars or researchers in a given field: medical literature.

  5. Printed material: collected all the available literature on the subject.

  6. Music All the compositions of a certain kind or for a specific instrument or ensemble: the symphonic literature.


[Middle English, book learning, from Old French litterature, from Latin litterātūra, from litterātus, lettered; see literate.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

literature 
c.1375, from L. lit(t)eratura "learning, writing, grammar," originally "writing formed with letters," from lit(t)era "letter." Originally "book learning" (it replaced O.E. boccræft), the meaning "literary production or work" is first attested 1779 in Johnson's "Lives of the English Poets" (he didn't include this definition in his dictionary, however); that of "body of writings from a period or people" is first recorded 1812.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Computing Dictionary

literature
The literature. Computer-science journals and other publications, vaguely gestured at to answer a question that the speaker believes is trivial. Thus, one might answer an annoying question by saying "It's in the literature." Oppose Knuth, which has no connotation of triviality.
(1994-11-04)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Encyclopedia

literature

a body of written works. The name has traditionally been applied to those imaginative works of poetry and prose distinguished by the intentions of their authors and the perceived aesthetic excellence of their execution. Literature may be classified according to a variety of systems, including language, national origin, historical period, genre, and subject matter.

Learn more about literature with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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