1. The study of manuscripts or printings to determine the original or most authoritative form of a text, especially of a piece of literature.
2. Literary criticism stressing close reading and detailed analysis of a particular text.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.