belles-lettres - WordReference.com Dictionary of English

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- - bell push
  - bell tent
  - bell-bottoms
  - bell-ringing
  - Bell's palsy
  - belladonna
  - bellbird
  - bellboy
  - belle
  - belle époque
  - belles-lettres
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belles-lettres

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Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
belles-lettres /bɛlˈlɛtr(ə)/

▶plural noun literary works written and read for their aesthetic effect.

– derivatives
belletrism /bɛlˈlɛtrɪz(ə)m/ noun,
belletrist noun,
belletristic adjective.

– origin C17: from Fr., lit. ‘fine letters’.

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