edebi

Edebi is a Turkish adjective meaning literary or related to literature. It describes works, traditions, and discourse that belong to the field of literature rather than other arts or entertainment. The term derives from edeb, a Turkish noun connoting manners, education, and cultivated taste, and is closely linked to edebiyat, the word for literature. In Turkish usage, edebi expressions appear in compound phrases such as edebi eser (a literary work), edebi eleştiri (literary criticism), and edebi türler (literary genres).

Edebi is commonly used in academic and cultural contexts to designate standards, aesthetics, or discourse associated with literature, as opposed to general or popular forms of writing. In historical Turkish and Ottoman discourse, edebi was used to denote the refined aspects of writing and the canon of literature, and it remains a standard descriptor in modern Turkish. The term can appear in phrases like edebi değerler (literary values) or edebi gelenek (literary tradition), and it functions as an attributive modifier rather than the noun edebiyat, which denotes literature itself.

In contemporary usage, edebi covers a broad range of literary concerns, including criticism, theory, and various genres. It is commonly found in education, publishing, criticism, and discussions of culture to distinguish literary forms from other media or from non-literary writing.