Derivation of the Latin word littera, the “letter”

The word literature is a derivation of the Latin word littera, the “letter,” which only became fashionable in the early modern period. The plural litterae acquired its own meanings as early as antiquity as “written material,” “documents,” “letters,” “learning,” “science(s).” In French and English, this meaning was retained in the terms lettres and letters as a synonym for “science”.