elegant letters
1womanof letters — woman of letters n. pl. women of letters A woman who is devoted to literary or scholarly pursuits: “[Eva Le Gallienne] was... a woman of letters who produced forcefully elegant translations of Ibsen and Hans Christian Andersen” (Margo Jefferson) …
2Europe, history of — Introduction history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous term than most geographic expressions. Its etymology is doubtful, as is the physical extent of the area it designates.… …
3belles-lettres — n. pl. [Fr.] Polite literature, elegant literature, polite letters, elegant letters, the humanities …
4Epistle — E*pis tle, n. [OE. epistle, epistel, AS. epistol, pistol, L. epistola, fr. Gr. ? anything sent by a messenger, message, letter, fr. ? to send to, tell by letter or message; epi upon, to + ? to dispatch, send; cf. OF. epistle, epistre, F. [… …
5Epistle side — Epistle E*pis tle, n. [OE. epistle, epistel, AS. epistol, pistol, L. epistola, fr. Gr. ? anything sent by a messenger, message, letter, fr. ? to send to, tell by letter or message; epi upon, to + ? to dispatch, send; cf. OF. epistle, epistre, F.… …
6literature — /lit euhr euh cheuhr, choor , li treuh /, n. 1. writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features, as poetry, novels, history, biography, and essays. 2.… …
7calligraphy — calligrapher, calligraphist, n. calligraphic /kal i graf ik/, calligraphical, adj. calligraphically, adv. /keuh lig reuh fee/, n. 1. fancy penmanship, esp. highly decorative handwriting, as with a great many flourishes: She appreciated the… …
8painting, Western — ▪ art Introduction history of Western painting from its beginnings in prehistoric times to the present. Painting, the execution of forms and shapes on a surface by means of pigment (but see also drawing for discussion of depictions in …
9English literature — Introduction the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the British Isles are… …
10South Asian arts — Literary, performing, and visual arts of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Myths of the popular gods, Vishnu and Shiva, in the Puranas (ancient tales) and the Mahabharata and Ramayana epics, supply material for representational and… …
