Results for belles-lettres
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Dictionary:

belles-lettres

  (bĕl-lĕt') pronunciation
pl.n. (used with a sing. verb)
  1. Literature regarded for its aesthetic value rather than its didactic or informative content.
  2. Light, stylish writings, usually on literary or intellectual subjects.

[French : belles, fine + lettres, letters, literature.]


 
 
Literary Dictionary: belles-lettres

belles‐lettres [bel‐letr], the French term for ‘fine writing’, originally used (as in ‘fine art’) to distinguish artistic literature from scientific or philosophical writing. Since the 19th century, though, the term has more often been used dismissively to denote a category of elegant essay‐writing and lightweight literary chatter, of which much was published in Britain in the late 19th and early 20th centuries: Max Beerbohm's essays and Andrew Lang's Letters to Dead Authors (1896) are examples. An author of such elegant trifles is a belletrist.

Adjective: belletristic.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: belles-lettres
(bĕl-lĕ'trə) [from the French for literature, literally “fine letters”], literature that is appreciated for the beauty, artistry, and originality of its style and tone rather than for its ideas and informational content. Earlier the term was synonymous with literature, referring particularly to fiction, poetry, drama, criticism, and essays. However, belletristic literature has come to mean light, artificial writing and essays extolling the beauties of literature.


 
Obscure Words: belles lettres


light, entertaining and often sophisticated literature
 
Translations: Translations for: Belles-lettres

Dansk (Danish)
n. pl. - skønlitteratur

Nederlands (Dutch)
bellettrie

Français (French)
n. pl. - belles-lettres

Deutsch (German)
n. pl. - Belletristik, schöngeistige Literatur

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. pl. - λογοτεχνία, έντεχνος λόγος

Italiano (Italian)
belle lettere

Português (Portuguese)
n. pl. - belas-letras (f pl)

Русский (Russian)
беллетристика

Español (Spanish)
n. pl. - bellas letras

Svenska (Swedish)
n. pl. - skönlitteratur, vitterhet

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
纯文学, 纯文艺

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. pl. - 純文學, 純文藝

한국어 (Korean)
n. pl. - 순 문학

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 純文学

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الجمع) الآداب, دراسات وكتابات أدبيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. pl. - ‮ספרות יפה, בלטריסטיקה‬


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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