belles-lettres
/ˌbɛlˈlɛtɹ(ə)/ noun
Forms belles lettres belles-letters belle-lettre
- noun (obsolete) The humanities.
- noun (archaic) Literature, particularly light compositions valued for their aesthetic properties.
- noun (archaic) Literary studies, particularly literary aesthetics.
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Polite or elegant literature; the humanities; --used somewhat vaguely for literary works in which imagination and taste are predominant.
Etymology [F.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “belles-lettres”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details