literature

[French, from Lat. literatura. from_liter a =a letter; Sp. literatura; Ital. litter a tura.] 1. Learning, letters; knowledge of or acquaint ance with letters or books. 2. The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of knowledge; the collective literary productions of any country or period. "The preposterous partiality which the present age has shown to the frippery and the tinsel of French liter a ture." -Eustace: Italy , vol. ii., ch. x. 3. The cla of writings distinguished for beauty of style or expre ion, as poetry, e ays, or history, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge; belles-lettres. 4. The literary profe ion; the profe ion of a man of letters. *lit-er-ā-tus, s . [Latin.] A man of letters or learning. lith, s . [A. S. lith ; cogn. with Dut. lid ; Dan. lid ; Icel. litter ; Goth. lith us ; Ger. glied .] A joint of the human body; a member, a limb, a division. lith-a-gogue, a. & s. [Gr. lithos a stone, and agogos leading, drawing; ago to lead, to draw.] A. As adjective : Med.: Having the power or quality of expelling stone from the bladder or kidneys. B. As substantive: Med.: A medicine or preparation intended to expel stone from the bladder or kidneys.