English
antiliterature
Antiliterature comes from Latin litterātūra ‘lettering’, and perhaps goes back to Old Latin leitera.
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleitera1uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera2‘letter’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātūra2‘lettering’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400littérature2
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500literature2
- English1500–presentliterature2
- Englishtodayantiliterature2
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meillet
- 2 Wiktionary, English antiliterature
Lineage
- Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleiteraWiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meilletuncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitteraWiktionary, English antiliterature‘letter’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātūraWiktionary, English antiliterature‘lettering’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400littératureWiktionary, English antiliterature
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500literatureWiktionary, English antiliterature
- English1500–presentliteratureWiktionary, English antiliterature
- EnglishtodayantiliteratureWiktionary, English antiliterature
A compound of anti- + literature
Proto-Indo-European *h₂ent- ‘forehead’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂énts ‘forehead’
Proto-Indo-European *h₂énti ‘opposite’
Ancient Greek ᾰ̓ντῐ́ ‘over against, opposite’
English anti-
Latin littera ‘letter’
Latin litterātūra ‘lettering; grammar’
Old French littérature
Middle English literature
English literature
Linked words
through Latin littera ‘letter’
letter, literally, literary, literal, illiterate, literate, literati, 8 more
Today it means
noun Written works that deliberately avoid the typical conventions of literature, such as antinovels, antiplays and antipoems.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “antiliterature”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin littera. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Old Latin leitera / antiliterature