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literal

adj
/ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/

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.

  1. derived from littera
  2. derived from litteralis
  3. derived from literal
  4. inherited from literal

Definitions

  1. Exactly as stated

    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.

    • The literal translation of Spanish irse al otro barrio is "to go to the other neighbourhood" but it means "to die".
    • A literal reading of the law would prohibit it, but that is clearly not the intent.
    • a middle course between the rigour of literal translations and the liberty of paraphrasts

  2. Actual, real, physical.

  3. That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given text is correct but…

    That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given text is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it.

  4. ›+ 8 more definitions

    1. Following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.

    2. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet)

      Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet); using literation.

      • a literal equation

    3. Unimaginative

      Unimaginative; matter-of-fact; literal-minded.

    4. Used nonliterally as an intensifier. See literally for usage notes.

      • Telemarketers are the literal worst.

    5. Misspelling of littoral.

    6. A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.

    7. A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.

    8. A propositional variable, or the negation of a propositional variable. ᵂᵖ

The neighborhood

Derived

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

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at literal. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01literal02following03specified04explained05explain06meaning07expression08idiom

A definitional loop anchored at literal. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

8 hops · closes at literal

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA