Meanings
- Of or relating to Émile Littré (1801–1881), French philosopher and lexicographer best known for his Dictionnaire de la langue française.
Perhaps we shall find, or our successors will find, that there has been side by side with much hindrance traceable to the Littréan school a considerable amount of preparatory work done by it.
1892, Richard Congreve, Essays, pages 392–3932 more examples
Perrin’s synthesis of Enlightenment scientism, Littréan aesthetics, revolutionary camaraderie, all tinged by the Marxian hope of liberation from Entfremdung, could not be more than a secular religion based on science.
1985, Harry W. Paul, From Knowledge to Power, page 352Bensaude-Vincent, in “Atomism and Positivism,” rightly insists on the multiplicity of “positivisms” in France. She disinguishes Comte’s own ideas, which were surprisingly receptive to the heuristic use of hypotheses, from Baconian inductivism. She also distinguishes Littréan positivism, “textbook positivism,” and the “positivist vulgate.”
2000, Alan J. Rocke, Nationalizing Science, page 407
Origin
From French Littré + English -an.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
French littréen
- littréenof or relating to Émile Littré
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with Littréan
All rhymes →Cite this entry
Littréan. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Littr%C3%A9an
“Littréan.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Littr%C3%A9an. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Littréan,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Littr%C3%A9an.
Source: Littréan on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.