literature
- 1The body of written works, especially creative ones, produced by a particular language, nation, culture or period, or by humanity as a whole.
Russian literature of the nineteenth century produced many enduring novels.
Scholars trace the roots of African American literature to oral storytelling traditions.
UsageOften with a word for whose writing it is: English literature, Russian literature. Scientific literature means research instead.
- 2The body of published research and scholarship on a particular subject, including journal articles, books, theses and reports.
The literature on climate change has grown enormously over two decades.
A good review summarizes the existing literature before proposing new research.
UsageUsually with the: the literature on a subject, the existing literature, the medical literature.
Similarresearch, scholarship, studies, publications
Note
Andrew Radford's Transformational Grammar: A First Course (1988) appeals to "the relevant literature", and James Lambert in 2018 finds a question "entirely absent from the literature". The field is often left unstated and understood from context. In this sense it means published research, not novels or poems.
- 3Written works, such as novels, poems and plays, valued for their artistic quality.
Critics debate whether genre fiction can ever count as true literature.
The course traces literature from Austen to Morrison.
Note
The evaluative sense, and the one most often argued over. Calling a book literature is a judgment of quality, not a description of its form. Some critics deny the label even to "literary" science fiction, saying it treats characters as bundles of traits. Literary fiction is the nearest synonym, and both terms set serious fiction apart from genre writing such as science fiction.
- 4Leaflets, brochures, booklets and similar printed matter that inform people about a product, service, cause or organization.
Ask at the front desk for literature on our home insurance plans.
The charity mailed its literature to thousands of homes ahead of the fundraising drive.
UsageSay some literature or a piece of literature; the topic follows on or about: literature on home insurance.
Similarmaterial
Less common meaning
- 5Skill in reading and writing; literacy.
Note
An obsolete sense that keeps the word close to its root, Latin littera, "letter": to have literature was to be able to read and write. Dickens still uses it in Hard Times (1854), describing a company whose "combined literature" amounted to very little. Read it this way in older texts. In modern writing, say literacy or learning instead.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Literature formerly meant the ability to read and write. en.wiktionary.org
- Literature derives ultimately from Latin littera, meaning letter. en.wiktionary.org
- To have literature could mean being able to read and write. en.wiktionary.org
- Charles Dickens wrote Hard Times, first published in 1854. en.wikipedia.org
- The novel's narrator describes a company's limited literacy using the exact phrase combined literature. gutenberg.org
Practice
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Origin
The word came through Middle English and Old French littérature from Latin literatura, built on littera ("letter"), whose origin is uncertain; one theory traces it through Etruscan to the Ancient Greek diphthérā ("leather for writing on"). It replaced the native Old English word bōccræft.
Checked 6 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- The word passed through Middle English and Old French littérature from Latin literatura. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin literatura derives from littera, meaning letter. en.wiktionary.org
- The origin of littera is uncertain; derivation through Etruscan from, or a relationship with, Greek diphthérā is one proposed explanation. en.wiktionary.org
- Ancient Greek diphthérā could denote a tablet. en.wiktionary.org
- Literature displaced the native Old English word bōccræft. en.wiktionary.org