Etymograph

English

litterateur

Litterateur comes from Latin litterātor ‘critic’, and goes back to littera ‘letter’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera1‘letter’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātor2‘critic’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentlittérateur2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1877litterateur2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin litterator
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English litterateur
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1877, William Herman, The Dance of Death: “[…]; and fourthly—as is evident upon the face of…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitteraWiktionary, Latin litterator‘letter’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātorWiktionary, English litterateur‘critic’
  3. Frenchc. 1600–presentlittérateurWiktionary, English litterateur
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1877litterateurWiktionary, English litterateur. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1877, William Herman, The Dance of Death: “[…]; and fourthly—as is evident upon the face of…”

Linked words

through Latin littera ‘letter’

letter, literally, literature, literary, literal, illiterate, literate, literati, 7 more

Today it means

noun A person engaged in various literary works: literary critic, essayist, writer.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “litterateur”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin litterator. 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 / litterateur

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