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literature |
3 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Literature \Lit"er*a*ture\, n. [F. litt['e]rature, L. litteratura literatura, learning, grammar, writing, fr littera, litera, letter. See {Letter}.] 1. Learning; acquaintance with letters or books. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. The occupation, profession, or business of doing literary work --Lamp. Syn: Science; learning; erudition; belles-lettres. Usage: See {Science}. -- {Literature}, {Learning}, {Erudition}. Literature, in its widest sense embraces all compositions in writing or print which preserve the results of observation, thought, or fancy; but those upon the positive sciences (mathematics, etc.) are usually excluded. It is often confined, however, to belles-lettres, or works of taste and sentiment, as poetry, eloquence, history, etc., excluding abstract discussions and mere erudition. A man of literature (in this narrowest sense) is one who is versed in belles-lettres; a man of learning excels in what is taught in the schools, and has a wide extent of knowledge, especially, in respect to the past; a man of erudition is one who is skilled in the more recondite branches of learned inquiry. The origin of all positive science and philosophy, as well as of all literature and art, in the forms in which they exist in civilized Europe, must be traced to the Greeks. --Sir G. Lewis. Learning thy talent is but mine is sense --Prior. Some gentlemen, abounding in their university erudition, fill their sermons with philosophical terms. --Swift. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: literature n 1: creative writing of recognized artistic value 2: the humanistic study of a body of literature; "he took a course in French literature" 3: published writings in a particular style on a particular subject; "the technical literature"; "one aspect of Waterloo has not yet been treated in the literature" 4: the profession or art of a writer; "her place in literature is secure" From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: 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)
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