English Explanatory Dictionary

literal

English dictionary entry

Meanings

adj
  1. Exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation; according to the letter; not figurative or metaphorical; following the letter or exact words; not taking liberties; etymonic rather than idiomatic.
  2. Actual, real, physical.
  3. That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given text is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it.
  4. Following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.
  5. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet); using literation.
  6. Unimaginative; matter-of-fact; literal-minded.
  7. Used nonliterally as an intensifier. See literally for usage notes.
  8. Misspelling of littoral.
noun
  1. A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.
  2. A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.
  3. A propositional variable, or the negation of a propositional variable. ᵂᵖ
  4. Misspelling of littoral.

Pronunciation

/ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Mélange a trois-literal.wav

Word forms

literal more literal most literal lit. litteral literals

Etymology

From Middle English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis or literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera or litera (“a letter”). See letter.

Synonyms

verbatim word-for-word typo literal constant

Antonyms

figurative free metaphorical nonliteral illiteral

Related words

letter literacy literary literate literature constant prime formula

Derived words

antiliteral biliteral duoliteral hexaliteral hyperliteralism illiteral literal equation literalism literalist literalistic literality literalization literalize literalise literally literal-minded literalness literal rule literal theonymy monoliteral multiliteral pluriliteral quadriliteral quinqueliteral transliteral triliteral uniliteral unliteral
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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