literature

«literature» in Mova's school dictionary: Written works such as novels, poems and plays, especially… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

noun (literature — uncountable)

meaning for a pupil

1) Written works such as novels, poems and plays, especially ones thought to be good or important. tree →

2) The study of these works as a school or university subject. tree →

3) All the writing about a particular subject, such as science papers. tree →

4) (informal) Printed information such as leaflets and booklets: free literature about the museum. tree →

sense in the lessons

In school, English literature lessons study stories, poems and plays and what they mean. In science and research, «the literature» means everything already published on a topic. In everyday life, «literature» can just mean leaflets. Phrases: English literature, children's literature, a work of literature, the literature on something.

examples

• We are reading poems in literature class. tree →
• Shakespeare is a famous name in English literature. tree →
• Children's literature includes picture books and novels. tree →
• The museum gives out free literature at the door. tree →
• My sister wants to study literature at university. tree →
• The scientist read all the literature on frogs before her experiment. tree →
• Fairy tales are some of the oldest literature in the world. tree →
• Good literature makes you think and feel. tree →

note

Uncountable: say «a lot of literature» or «a work of literature», not «a literature» (except about a nation's writing: «Irish literature»). Spelling: litERATure, with -ture at the end. Adjective: literary. Do not confuse with «literal» (exact meaning) or «literacy» (being able to read and write).

In the corpora

• In 1907 he became the first English-language writer to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «literature» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.