homme de lettres

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French homme de lettres, from homme (man) + de (of) + lettres (humanities, arts).

Noun

homme de lettres (plural hommes de lettres)

  1. man of letters, a literary man

Usage notes

This is a foreign term not fully naturalized in English and is sometimes italicized.

French

Pronunciation

  • (mute h) IPA(key): /ɔm də lɛtʁ/

Noun

homme de lettres m (plural hommes de lettres or gens de lettres, feminine femme de lettres)

  1. homme de lettres, man of letters

See also