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The humanities.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Literature, particularly light compositions valued for their aesthetic properties.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: polite literature
Antonyms: none provided
Literary studies, particularly literary aesthetics.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: archaic, uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
creative writing valued for esthetic content
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: belles lettres
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: literary composition, literary work
Borrowed from French belles-lettres (“fine writings”), a parallel construction with the beaux arts (“fine arts”). Littré considered the belles-lettres to embrace grammar, rhetoric, and poetry. Sense embracing all of the humanities under the influence of Latin literae humaniores.
Across languages
Translations
34 source translations are retained for this English entry.
-
Arabic:
أَدَب
(ʔadab)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Chinese Mandarin:
純文學 /纯文学
(chúnwénxué)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Chinese Mandarin:
美文
(měiwén)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Chinese Mandarin:
詩禮 /诗礼
(shīlǐ)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Czech:
beletrie
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Dutch:
bellettrie
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Esperanto:
beletro
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Esperanto:
beletristiko
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Estonian:
ilukirjandus
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Estonian:
belletristika
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Finnish:
kaunokirjallisuus
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
French:
belles-lettres
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Georgian:
ბელეტრისტიკა
(beleṭrisṭiḳa)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
German:
Belles Lettres
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
German:
schöne Literatur
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
German:
Belletristik
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Hungarian:
szépirodalom
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Irish:
léann liteartha
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Japanese:
純文学
(junbungaku)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Korean:
순문학
(sunmunhak)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Polish:
beletrystyka
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Polish:
literatura piękna
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Portuguese:
belas-letras
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Romanian:
beletristică
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Russian:
худо́жественная литерату́ра
(xudóžestvennaja literatúra)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Russian:
беллетри́стика
(belletrístika)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Spanish:
bellas letras
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Spanish:
buenas letras
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Swedish:
skönlitteratur
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Swedish:
belletristik
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Ukrainian:
худо́жня літерату́ра
(xudóžnja literatúra)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Ukrainian:
белетри́стика
(beletrýstyka)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Ukrainian:
кра́сне письме́нство
(krásne pysʹménstvo)
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
-
Vietnamese:
văn chương
— light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties