‖ litteræ humaniores
(ˈlɪtəraɪ hjuːmænɪˈɔəriːz)
Also literæ humaniores.
[L., lit. ‘more humane letters’.]
The humanities, secular learning as opposed to divinity; esp., at the University of Oxford, the study of Greek and Roman classical literature, philosophy, and ancient history; also, = Greats (great C. 10).
| 1747 Chesterfield Let. 24 Nov. (1932) III. 1057 Studies of the Literæ Humaniores, especially Greek. 1760 Sterne Tr. Shandy (ed. 3) II. xii. 61, I would not depreciate what the study of the Literæ humaniores, at the university, have done for me. 1883 Sat. Rev. 3 Nov. 581/2 We cannot conceive a better accompaniment to the study of literæ humaniores. 1907 ‘B. Burke’ Barbara goes to Oxf. 43 ‘Greats’, you must know, is a nickname for the school of ‘Literae Humaniores’. 1911 Beerbohm Zuleika D. iii. 30 He..was reading, a little, for Literae Humaniores. 1926 Fowler Mod. Eng. Usage 240/2 The Humanities, or Litteræ humaniores, as an old-fashioned name for the study of classical literature. 1962 K. Chorley Arthur Hugh Clough iv. 72 In Clough's day there were but two schools open to men reading for honours—namely, Mathematics and Literae Humaniores. 1965 J. A. W. Bennett in J. Gibb Light on C. S. Lewis 48 But litterae humaniores were his foundation, and they did in every sense make him more humane, enlarging his responses not restricting them. 1972 Univ. Oxf. Examination Decrees i. 120 The Subjects of the Honour School of Literæ Humaniores shall be (I) Greek and Roman History, (II) Philosophy, (III) Greek and Latin Literature. |