Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: Latin litteratura, from litteratus; LITERATE

literature

 noun
     
Related topics: Literature, Newspapers, Publishing
lit‧e‧ra‧ture W2 [uncountable]
1AL books, plays, poems etc that people think are important and good:
He has read many of the major works of literature.
Italian literature
2TCN all the books, articles, etc on a particular subject
literature on
literature on the history of science
in the literature
Several cases of mercury poisoning have been recorded in the literature.
3 printed information produced by people who want to sell you something or tell you about something:
sales literature
WORD FOCUS: book WORD FOCUS: book
a book about imaginary events: novel, thriller, mystery, horror story, love story, detective story, whodunit
books about imaginary events in general: fiction, science fiction, romantic fiction, crime fiction, chick lit informal
famous or important novels, poems etc : literature
books about real events: non-fiction
a book that gives information: reference book, encyclopedia, textbook
a book about someone's life: biography, autobiography, journal, diary
someone who writes books: writer, author, novelist
a book with a hard cover: hardback /hardcover American English
a book with a cover made of paper or card: paperback

➔ See also book
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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