belles-lettres
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See also: belles lettres
English
Alternative forms
Etymology
Borrowed from French belles-lettres (“fine writing”), 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.
Pronunciation
Noun
- (obsolete) The humanities.
- (archaic) Literature, particularly light compositions valued for their aesthetic properties.
- Synonym: polite literature
- a. 1854, Henry Reed, Lectures on English Literature, 1878 edition, page 34:
- That vapid, half naturalized term ‘belles-lettres,’ which has had some currency as a substitute for the term ‘literature.’
- (archaic) Literary studies, particularly literary aesthetics.
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
humanities — see humanities
light literary compositions valued for their aesthetic properties
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References
- "belles-lettres, n.", in the Oxford English Dictionary, 1887.