Lexic.us

Definition of Literal

1. Noun. A mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind.

2. Adjective. Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something. "A genuine dilemma"

3. Adjective. Without interpretation or embellishment. "A literal depiction of the scene before him"

4. Adjective. Limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text. "A literal translation"

5. Adjective. Avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis). "It's the literal truth"

Definition of Literal

1. a. According to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase.

2. n. Literal meaning.

Definition of Literal

1. Adjective. Exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation; according to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical. ¹

2. Adjective. Following the letter or exact words; not free; not taking liberties. ¹

3. Adjective. (uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters. ¹

4. Noun. (programming) A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program. ¹

5. Noun. (logic) A propositional variable or the negation of a propositional variable.^{[ ¹}

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Literal

1. a small error in printing or writing [n -S]

Lexicographical Neighbors of Literal

litas litate litchee litchees litchi litchi nut litchi tree litchis lite lited

liteness litenesses liter literacies literacy literal (current term) literal agraphia literal belief literal error literal interpretation

literal rule literalise literalism literalisms literalist literalistic literalistically literalists literalities literality

Literary usage of Literal

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education by National Society for the Study of Education (1908)
"The literal historian, who has based his work chiefly on the literary records, ... The literal historian who writes through monuments has preserved the same ..."

2. A Manual of Composition and Rhetoric: A Text-book for Schools and Colleges by John Seely Hart (1883)
"The metaphorical and the literal should not be mixed in the same sentence. Eule Explained. -A metaphor having been introduced into a sentence, ..."

3. Statutes and Statutory Construction: Including a Discussion of Legislative by Jabez Gridley Sutherland (1904)
"The literal sense not controlling.—The mere literal construction of a section in a statute ought not to prevail if it is opposed to the intention of the ..."

4. The Harleian Miscellany: Or, A Collection of Scarce, Curious, and by William Oldys, John Malham (1810)
"But our present enquiry is of the physical and literal sense, especially of these words (in the heaven) where the stork seems to be and reside, ..."

5. The Monthly Review by Charles William Wason (1835)
"A literal Interlineal Translation of the First Ten Chapters of Gregory'* Conspectus ... of Gregory's Conspectus, or even to comprehend its literal force. ..."

Other Resources: