literal (redirected from literals)

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.

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

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liter·al·ness n.

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literal

Adjective

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

2. word for word: a literal translation

3. dull or unimaginative: she's very, very literal and flat in how she interprets what she sees

4. true; actual

Noun

a misprint or misspelling in a text [Latin littera letter]

literally adv

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"

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literal

adjective 1. exact, close, strict, accurate, faithful, verbatim, word for word

adjective 2. unimaginative, boring, dull, down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, factual, prosaic, colourless, uninspired, prosy

adjective 3. actual, real, true, simple, plain, genuine, gospel, bona fide, unvarnished, unexaggerated

Translations

literal [ˈlɪtərl] adj → literal

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literal [ˈlɪtərl] adj → littéral(e)

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literal [ˈlɪtərəl] adj → wörtlich, eigentlich; [translation] → (wort)wörtlich

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literal [ˈlɪtərl] adj → letterale