2007-03-14 06:20:39 · 6 answers · asked by awadhesh s 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
I do agree that it means in general a cultivated man, highly educated and as suggests even the expression, who has been published.
I would like to focus your attention to another specifics of the implication of "man/ woman of letters", it refers to fully devoted book-person, author,creative author. As though he/she could be a scholar , that could be an addition and not a inevitable requirement.
I will allow to give you two exceptional examples of "men of letters", the prodigious Portuguese author Miguel Torga and George Duhamel..
Hope that helps!
Have a great day!
2007-03-14 08:26:12 · answer #1 · answered by sunflower 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
The expression "man of letters" stood, in many cultures, for intellectual. The term implied a distinction between those who "knew their letters" and those who did not. The distinction thus had great weight when literacy was not widespread.
"Men of letters" were also termed literati (from the Latin), as a group; this phrase may also refer to the 'citizens' of the Republic of Letters. Literati survives as a term of abuse and is used in journalism.
Literatus, in the singular, is rarely found in English - the English term is litterateur (from the French littérateur). The term is occasionally used to denote "scholars"
2007-03-17 08:24:12 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Man Of Letters means
A man who is devoted to literary or scholarly pursuits.
2007-03-14 06:27:01 · answer #3 · answered by mindreader 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It means a highly educated and well informed man whose work has been published.
2007-03-14 07:12:53 · answer #4 · answered by Doethineb 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It means an educated/cultivated man.
2007-03-14 06:25:40 · answer #5 · answered by Martha P 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
an educated man
2007-03-14 10:12:33 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋