Kirjutised

Kirjutised is an Estonian noun meaning "written texts" or "documents." It refers to material produced through writing, including letters, contracts, reports, manuscripts, archival records, and inscriptions. The term is used to distinguish written sources from oral traditions or other non-textual materials. In everyday language, kirjutised can describe any single written item or the collection of written materials in a given context, such as an archive or a dossier.

Kirjutised is formed from the verb kirjutama "to write." The singular is kirjutis, and the plural is kirjutised. In archival, bibliographic, and scholarly usage, the category highlights items that have documentary or evidentiary value rather than literary or artistic merit. The term is broader than kirjandus (literature), whose focus is artistic writing, storytelling, or scholarly works intended for reading.

In practice, kirjutised can include letters, decrees, contracts, reports, official records, diaries, and manuscripts. They are often used as primary sources in historical, legal, linguistic, or administrative research. Catalogs and finding aids may use "kirjutised" to group written materials, distinguishable from epigraphic or oral sources.