literal

lit·er·al  (ltr-l)

adj.

1. Being in accordance with, conforming to, or upholding the exact or primary meaning of a word or words.

2. Word for word; verbatim: a literal translation.

3. Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic: a literal description; a literal mind.

4. Consisting of, using, or expressed by letters: literal notation.

5. Conforming or limited to the simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words.

n. Computer Science

A letter or symbol that stands for itself as opposed to a feature, function, or entity associated with it in a programming language: $ can be a symbol that refers to the end of a line, but as a literal, it is a dollar sign.

---

[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin litterlis, of letters, from Latin littera, ltera, letter; see letter.]

---

liter·al·ness n.

---

literal [ˈlɪtərəl]

adj

1. in exact accordance with or limited to the primary or explicit meaning of a word or text

2. word for word

3. dull, factual, or prosaic

4. consisting of, concerning, or indicated by letters

5. true; actual

6. (Mathematics) Maths containing or using coefficients and constants represented by letters: ax² + b is a literal expression Compare numerical [3a]

n

(Literary & Literary Critical Terms) Also called literal error a misprint or misspelling in a text

[from Late Latin litterālis concerning letters, from Latin littera letter]

literalness , literality [ˌlɪtəˈrælɪtɪ] n

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	literal - a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind erratum, literal error, misprint, typo, typographical error mistake, error - part of a statement that is not correct; "the book was full of errors"
Adj.	1.	literal - being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something; "her actual motive"; "a literal solitude like a desert"- G.K.Chesterton; "a genuine dilemma" actual, genuine, real true - consistent with fact or reality; not false; "the story is true"; "it is undesirable to believe a proposition when there is no ground whatever for supposing it true"- B. Russell; "the true meaning of the statement"
	2.	literal - without interpretation or embellishment; "a literal depiction of the scene before him" exact - marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact; "an exact mind"; "an exact copy"; "hit the exact center of the target"
	3.	literal - limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text; "a literal translation" exact - marked by strict and particular and complete accordance with fact; "an exact mind"; "an exact copy"; "hit the exact center of the target" unrhetorical - not rhetorical figurative, nonliteral - (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech; "figurative language"
	4.	literal - avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis); "it's the literal truth" plain - not elaborate or elaborated; simple; "plain food"; "stuck to the plain facts"; "a plain blue suit"; "a plain rectangular brick building"

---

literal

adjective

1. exact, close, strict, accurate, faithful, verbatim, word for word a literal translation

2. unimaginative, boring, dull, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, factual, prosaic, colourless, uninspired, prosy He is a very literal person.

3. actual, real, true, simple, plain, genuine, gospel, bona fide, unvarnished, unexaggerated He was saying no more than the literal truth.

Translations

literal [ˈlɪtərəl]

A. ADJ

1. [sense, translation] → literal
they follow a literal interpretation of the Bible → siguen la Biblia al pie de la letra
to be literal about sth → tomar algo al pie de la letra
he's a very literal person → es una persona que todo se lo toma al pie de la letra
see also literal-minded

2. (as intensifier) a literal fact → un hecho real
the literal truth → la pura verdad

B. N (Typ) → errata f

---

literal [ˈlɪt<^ərəl] adj [sense, meaning, translation] → littéral(e)

---

literal

adj

(esp Typ) literal error → Schreib-/Tipp-/Druckfehler m

translation, meaning, sense → wörtlich; in the literal sense (of the word) → im wörtlichen Sinne

(= real) that is the literal truth → das ist die reine Wahrheit; it was a literal disaster → es war im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes eine Katastrophe; the literal impossibility of working there → die völlige or buchstäbliche Unmöglichkeit, dort zu arbeiten

(= prosaic) → nüchtern, prosaisch; he has a very literal mind or is very literal-minded → er denkt sehr nüchtern, er ist sehr prosaisch

n → Schreib-/Tipp-/Druckfehler m

---

literal [ˈlɪt/ər/əl]

1. adj (meaning, translation) → letterale; (account) → testuale; (person) → prosaico/a

2. n (Brit) (Typ) → refuso

---

literal [ˈlɪt/ər/əl]

1. adj (meaning, translation) → letterale; (account) → testuale; (person) → prosaico/a

2. n (Brit) (Typ) → refuso

---

literal

adj literal [ˈlitərəl]

1 following the exact meaning with no exaggeration the literal truth. letterlik حَرْفي дословен věrný, čistý bogstavelig; ren; skinbarlig buchstäblich κυριολεκτικός, που λέγεται χωρίς υπερβολή literal liialdamata معنی دقیق kirjaimellinen littéral, réel כִּפשוּטוֹ शाब्दिक doslovan a szó szoros értelmében vett sesungguhnya bókstaflegur letterale; puro 文字通りの 말 그대로 받아들이는 tikras, grynas precīzs; pareizs sebenar letterlijk bokstavelig dosłowny literal literal; adevărat буквальный čistý stvaren bukvalan bokstavlig, exakt ตามความหมายที่แท้จริงของคำ gerçek, asıl, sözlük anlamı 確實的﹐不誇張的 сухий الفاظ کو ان کے حقیقی معنی میں نہ کہ مجازا سمجھنا theo nghĩa đen 确确实实的，无夸张的

2 understanding the meaning by taking one word at a time a literal translation. woordelikse حَرْفي الفَهْم أو التَّرْجَمَه дословен doslovný ordret wörtlich κατά λέξη, σχολαστικός literal sõnasõnaline تحت اللفظی sanasanainen littéral מִילוּלִי एक-एक शब्द लेकर उसका मतलब समझना doslovan szó szerinti harfiah orðréttur letterale 逐語的の 직역의 pažodinis, tiesioginis burtisks harfiah letterlijk ordrett dosłowny literal literal дословный doslovný dobeseden bukvalan ordagrann, bokstavstrogen ตามตัวอักษร kelimesi kelimesine 逐字的 буквальний, дослівний ایک ایک لفظ پر غور کرنا theo nghĩa của chữ 逐字的

n literalness

letterlikheid حَرْفِيَّه дословност doslovnost bogstavelighed; skinbarlighed das Festhalten an Buchstaben κυριολεξία literalidad täpsus لغوی بودن kirjaimellisuus littéralité פְּשָׁט साक्षरता, सक्षरपन doslovnost szó szerinti volta vminek ketepatan e-ð bókstaflegt, það að taka e-ð bókstaflega l'essere letterale 文字通り 사실대로임, 문자 그대로임 pažodiškumas burtiskums harfiah letterlijkheid bokstavelighet, ordretthet dosłowność à letra literalitate буквальность doslovnosť dobesednost bukvalnost bokstavstrohet, ordagrannhet ความหมายตามตัวอักษร gerçeğe uygun olma 照字義 буквальність لفظی نوعیت sự theo nghĩa đen 照字义

adv literally

We had literally a minute to catch the train. letterlik حَرْفِيَّاً буквално doslova bogstaveligt buchstäblich κυριολεκτικά literalmente täpselt به طور تحت اللفظی kirjaimellisesti littéralement בְּלִי לְהָגזִים अक्षरश:, वस्तुत: doslovno szó szerint tepat bókstaflega letteralmente 文字通りに 축어적으로 tiesiog, pažodžiui burtiski secara harfiah letterlijk bokstavelig dosłownie literalmente literalmente буквально doslova dobesedno bukvalno bokstavligen, ordagrant อย่างแท้จริง gerçekten, hakikaten 確實地 буквально لفظی còn đúng 确实地