Etymograph

English

literature

Literature comes from Middle English literature, from Old French littérature, from Latin litterātūra ‘lettering, grammar’, from littera ‘letter’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera1‘letter’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātūra1‘lettering; grammar’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400littérature1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500literature1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1854literature1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English literature
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Charles Dickens: “They all assumed to be mighty rakish and knowing,…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitteraWiktionary, English literature‘letter’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātūraWiktionary, English literature‘lettering; grammar’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400littératureWiktionary, English literature
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500literatureWiktionary, English literature
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1854literatureWiktionary, English literature. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1854, Charles Dickens: “They all assumed to be mighty rakish and knowing,…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with literature, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Hellenic *dipʰtʰérā

through Latin littera ‘letter’

15 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

noun The body of all written works.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “literature”. 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 / Latin littera / literature