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Shak. To dine with Duke Humphrey, to go without dinner; -- a phrase common in Elizabethan literature, said to be from the practice of the poor gentry, who beguiled the dinner hour by a promenade near the tomb of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, in Old Saint Paul's.

now in his dotage. Capable of distinguishing between the infancy and the dotage of Greek literature. Macaulay.

Dramatic composition and the literature pertaining to or illustrating it; dramatic literature.

drinking; to receive and appropriate as in satisfaction of thirst. "Song was the form of literature which he [Burns] had drunk in from his cradle." J. C. Shairp. -- To drink off or up, to drink the whole at a draught; as, to drink off a cup of cordial. -- To drink the health of, or To drink to the health of, to drin…

A mythical monster of the early Anglo-Saxon literature; a dragon. W. Spalding.

osition; an elegant speaker; an elegant structure. A more diligent cultivation of elegant literature. Prescott.

Pertaining to Queen Elizabeth or her times, esp. to the architecture or literature of her reign; as, the Elizabethan writers, drama, literature. -- n.

A collective name for reviews, magazines, and all kinds of periodical literature. Brande & C.

learned; the acquisitions gained by extensive reading or study; particularly, learning in literature or criticism, as distinct from the sciences; scholarship. The management of a young lady's person is not be overlooked, but the erudition of her mind is much more to be regarded. Steele. The gay young gentleman whose er…

A part of a French newspaper (usually the bottom of the page), devoted to light literature, criticism, etc.; also, the article or tale itself, thus printed.

Fictitious literature; comprehensively, all works of imagination; specifically, novels and romances. The office of fiction as a vehicle of instruction and moral elevation has been recognized by most if not all great educators. Dict. of Education.

That quality which gives character to any of the productions of literature or the fine arts.

ury; and Modern or New H. G., the language of Luther's Bible version and of modern German literature. The dialects of Central Germany, the basis of the modern literary language, are often called Middle German, and the Southern German dialects Upper German; but High German is also used to cover both groups. -- Low Germ…

s in rural employments, followed by the silver, bronze, and iron ages. Dryden. (b) (Roman Literature) The best part (B. C. 81 -- A. D. 14) of the classical period of Latinity; the time when Cicero, Cæsar, Virgil, etc., wrote. Hence: (c) That period in the history of a literature, etc., when it flourishes in its greates…

One well versed in the Greek language, literature, or history. De Quincey.

A school for the higher branches of literature and science; a preparatory school for the university; -- used esp. of German schools of this kind. More like ordinary schools of gymnasia than universities. Hallam.

One skilled in the Greek language and literature; as, the critical Hellenist.

r commonly received doctrine, and tending to promote a division or party, as in politics, literature, philosophy, etc.; -- usually, but not necessarily, said in reproach. New opinions Divers and dangerous, which are heresies, And, not reformed, may prove pernicious. Shak. After the study of philosophy began in Greece,…

In Chinese literature, one of the sixty-four figures formed of six parallel lines (continuous or broken), forming the basis of the Yih King, or "Book of Changes." S. W. Williams.

One of the scholars who in the field of literature proper represented the movement of the Renaissance, and early in the 16th century adopted the name Humanist as their distinctive title. Schaff- Herzog.