Letterarie

Letterarie is the feminine plural form of the Italian adjective letterario, meaning "literary." It agrees with feminine plural nouns, as in opere letterarie (literary works) or riviste letterarie (literary magazines). The masculine plural form is letterari. The adjective is used to describe things connected with literature, such as works, movements, or disciplines, rather than with other arts.

Etymology and usage context: The term derives from Latin litterarius, from littera "letter," and shares roots with related Romance-language terms such as French littéraire. In Italian, letterario and its inflected forms are common in academic, publishing, and critical writing to specify literary content or quality.

Common usages: In scholarly and critical language, you will encounter phrases like critica letteraria (literary criticism), storia letteraria (literary history), and arte letteraria (the literary art). It functions as an attributive adjective; it does not usually stand alone as a noun, though it appears in titles and descriptive phrases to signal a relationship to literature.

Relation to related terms: Letterarie sits within a broader family that includes letteratura (literature), letterario as a general descriptor, and compound terms that denote types or aspects of literature, such as poesia letteraria (literary poetry) or romanzo letterario (literary novel). It is distinct from terms that refer to non-literary arts or to practical writing disciplines.

See also: letteratura; letterario; critica letteraria; storia letteraria; arte letteraria.