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Belles-lettres

//ˌbɛlˈlɛtɹ(ə)// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The humanities. obsolete, uncountable
  2. 2
    creative writing valued for esthetic content wordnet
  3. 3
    Literature, particularly light compositions valued for their aesthetic properties. archaic, uncountable

    "That vapid, half naturalized term ‘belles-lettres,’ which has had some currency as a substitute for the term ‘literature.’"

  4. 4
    Literary studies, particularly literary aesthetics. archaic, uncountable

Etymology

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.

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