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belles-lettres (n.)
"elegant literature, literature as fine art," 1710, French, literally "fine letters," from belles, plural of belle, fem. of beau "fine, beautiful" (see beau) + lettres, plural of lettre "letter" (see letter (n.)). The literary equivalent of beaux arts; its boundaries never have been exact, and it is "now generally applied (when used at all) to the lighter branches of literature, or the æsthetics of literary study" [OED].
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Definitions of belles-lettres
Dictionary entries near belles-lettres
Bellatrix
bell-bottoms
bell-boy
belle
Bellerophon
belles-lettres
belletrist
bellhop
bellicose
bellicosity
bellied