English
litterateur
Litterateur comes from Latin litterātor ‘critic’, and goes back to littera ‘letter’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera‘letter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātor‘critic’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlittérateur
- Englishearliest quotation 1877litterateur
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera‘letter’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātor‘critic’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentlittérateur
- Englishearliest quotation 1877litterateur
Earliest quotation: 1877, William Herman, The Dance of Death: “[…]; and fourthly—as is evident upon the face of…”
Linked words
through Latin littera ‘letter’
letter, literally, literature, literary, literal, illiterate, literate, literati, 7 more
Today it means
noun A person engaged in various literary works: literary critic, essayist, writer.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin littera / litterateur