Meaning

The body of all written works..

Definitions by Sense

1. The body of all written works.
2. The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group, or culture.
3. (usually preceded by the) All the papers, treatises, etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject.
4. Written fiction of a high standard.
5. (obsolete) Literacy; ability to read and write.

Example Sentences

He’s studying English literature at university.

There’s a vast body of scientific literature on the subject.

classical literature

scientific literature

world literature

The obvious question to ask at this point is: ‘Why posit the existence of a set of Thematic Relations (THEME, AGENT, INSTRUMENT, etc.) distinct from constituent structure relations?ʼ The answer given in the relevant literature is that a variety of linguistic phenomena can be accounted for in a more principled way in terms of Thematic Functions than in terms of constituent structure relations.

In fact, information on when each of the terms first appeared in English, and if obsolete, how long they persisted, is entirely absent from the literature.

2008, Adam Cadre However, even “literary” science fiction rarely qualifies as literature, because it treats characters as sets of traits rather than as fully realized human beings with unique life stories.

Word Forms

• literatures
• lit.
• literatuer

Synonyms for literature

Related Words

When Should You Use Literature?

Use literature when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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