literary

English

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] French littéraire.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtəɹəɹi/, /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹi/
• IPA^(key): /ˈlɪtəɹɛ(ə)ɹi/, [ˈɫɪɾəɹɛ(ə)ɹi]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

Adjective

literary (comparative more literary, superlative most literary)

1. Relating to literature.

   literary fame

   a literary history

   literary conversation

   • (Can we date this quote by Johnson and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     He has long outlived his century, the term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit.

2. Relating to writers, or the profession of literature.

   a literary man

   • (Can we date this quote by Mason and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     in the literary as well as fashionable world

3. Knowledgeable of literature or writing.
4. Appropriate to literature rather than everyday writing.
5. Bookish.

Synonyms

• bookly

Derived terms

Derived terms

• literary criticism
• literary device
• literary form

• literary genre
• literary technique
• literary theory

Related terms

Related terms

• letter
• literacy
• literal

• literate
• literature

Translations

relating to literature

• Arabic: أَدَبِيّ (ʔadabiyy)
• Armenian: գրական (hy) (grakan)
• Asturian: lliterariu
• Belarusian: літарату́рны (litaratúrny), кні́жны (knížny)
• Bulgarian: литерату́рен (literatúren)
• Catalan: literari (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 文學／文学 (zh) (wénxué), 文学 (zh) (wénxué), 文 (zh) (wén)

• Czech: literární (cs)
• Danish: litterær
• Dutch: literair (nl)
• Esperanto: literatura (eo)
• Finnish: kirjallinen (fi)
• French: littéraire (fr)
• Galician: literario
• German: literarisch (de)
• Hungarian: irodalmi (hu)
• Italian: letterario (it)
• Japanese: 文学 (ja) (ぶんがく, bungaku)
• Korean: 문학 (ko) (munhak)
• Latin: litterarius m, litteraria f, litterarium n, litterarii m pl, litterariae f pl, litteraria n pl
• Lithuanian: literatūros
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Luxembourgish: literaresch
• Malay: sastera
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: litterær (no)

  Nynorsk: litterær

• Occitan: literari (oc)
• Persian: ادبی (fa) (adabi)
• Polish: literacki (pl) m
• Portuguese: literário (pt)
• Romanian: literar (ro) m or n, literară f, literari m pl
• Russian: литерату́рный (ru) (literatúrnyj), кни́жный (ru) (knížnyj)
• Spanish: literario (es)
• Swedish: litterär (sv)
• Tagalog: pampanitikan
• Turkish: edebî (tr)
• Ukrainian: літерату́рний (literatúrnyj), книжко́вий (knyžkóvyj)
• Urdu: ادبی (adabi)
• Uzbek: adabiy (uz)
• Vietnamese: văn học (vi), văn chương (vi)
• Welsh: llenyddol (cy)
• Yiddish: ליטעראַריש (literarish)

relating to writers, or the profession of literature

• Armenian: գրական (hy) (grakan)
• Danish: litterær
• Finnish: kirjailija- (fi), kirjallisuus- (fi), kirjallinen (fi)
• German: literarisch (de)
• Hungarian: írói (hu), irodalmi (hu)
• Lithuanian: rašytojų (lt)
• Norwegian: :

  Bokmål: litterær (no)

  Nynorsk: litterær

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: literacki (pl) m
• Swedish: litterär (sv)
• Welsh: llenyddol (cy)
• Yiddish: ליטעראַריש (literarish)

knowledgeable of literature or writing

• Finnish: kirjallisuutta tunteva
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

appropriate to literature rather than everyday writing

• Armenian: գրական (hy) (grakan)
• Finnish: kirjakielinen (fi), kirjallinen (fi)
• Japanese: 文語の (ぶんごの, bungo no)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: książkowy (pl)
• Vietnamese: văn hoa

bookish — see bookish

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} litterari
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Further reading

• “literary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “literary”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• trilayer