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English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis, also literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera, litera (“a letter”); see letter.
Pronunciation
Adjective
literal (comparative more literal, superlative most literal)
- Exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation; according to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical, and etymonic rather than idiomatic.
The literal translation is "hands full of bananas" but it means "empty-handed".
1594–1597, Richard Hooker, edited by J[ohn] S[penser], Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, , London: Will Stansby , published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):a middle course between the rigour of literal translations and the liberty of paraphrasts
2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club:Mechanically, operating this hybrid vehicle is sort of a cross between driving a car and taming an animal, which means the movie treats the audience to the sight of a man (pretending to be a teenager) driving a literal monster truck in a field next to a woman (also pretending to be a teenager) riding a horse.
- Following the letter or exact words; not free; not taking liberties
A literal reading of the law would prohibit it, but that is clearly not the intent.
- (theology) (broadly) That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given scripture is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it; (specifically) following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation
- (uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet)
a literal equation
- (of a person) Unimaginative; matter-of-fact
- (proscribed) Used non-literally as an intensifier; see literally for usage notes.
Telemarketers are the literal worst.
Antonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation
- Arabic: لَفْظِيّ (lafẓiyy), حَرْفِيّ (ḥarfiyy)
- Armenian: բառացի (hy) (baṙacʿi)
- Bulgarian: буквален (bg) (bukvalen)
- Catalan: literal (ca)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 字面 (zh) (zìmiàn)
- Czech: doslovný (cs)
- Danish: bogstavelig
- Dutch: letterlijk (nl)
- Faroese: bókstavligur
- Finnish: kirjaimellinen (fi), sananmukainen
- French: littéral (fr)
- Galician: literal
- German: wörtlich (de), buchstäblich (de)
- Greek: κατά γράμμα (el) (katá grámma)
- Hungarian: szó szerinti (hu)
- Icelandic: bókstaflegur (is)
- Indonesian: literal, harfiah (id)
- Italian: letterale (it), alla lettera
- Japanese: 逐語的な (ちくごてきな, chikugoteki na)
- Macedonian: буквален (bukvalen)
- Maori: pūrite
- Old English: stæflīċ
- Polish: dosłowny (pl), literalny (pl)
- Portuguese: literal (pt)
- Romanian: literally m or n, literală f
- Russian: буква́льный (ru) (bukválʹnyj), досло́вный (ru) (doslóvnyj)
- Slovak: doslovný
- Spanish: literal (es)
- Swedish: bokstavlig (sv)
- Vietnamese: nghĩa đen (vi), sát nghĩa (of a translation), nguyên văn (vi) (of a translation)
- Welsh: llythrennol (cy)
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following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
- Armenian: բառացի (hy) (baṙacʿi)
- Bulgarian: дословен (dosloven)
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 逐字逐句 (zh) (zhúzìzhújù)
- Czech: doslovný (cs)
- Dutch: letterlijk (nl), strikt (nl)
- Finnish: kirjaimellinen (fi), sananmukainen, sanatarkka
- French: littéral (fr)
- Galician: literal m or f
- German: buchstäblich (de)
- Hungarian: szó szerinti (hu), szóról szóra történő, betű szerinti
- Italian: letterale (it), alla lettera
- Japanese: 文字通り (ja) (もじどおり, mojidōri)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: (translation) ordrett
- Nynorsk: (translation) ordrett
- Old English: stæflīċ
- Polish: dosłowny (pl)
- Portuguese: literal (pt)
- Romanian: literally m or n, literală f
- Russian: то́чный (ru) (tóčnyj), буква́льный (ru) (bukválʹnyj), досло́вный (ru) (doslóvnyj)
- Swedish: ordagrann (sv)
- Welsh: llythrennol (cy)
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consisting of, or expressed by, letters
Noun
literal (plural literals)
- (epigraphy, typography) A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.
- Synonym: typo
- (programming) A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.
- Synonym: literal constant
- (logic) A propositional variable or the negation of a propositional variable. Wp
Translations
programming: value written in the source code
See also
References
- ^ “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), 2016 June 6 (last accessed), archived from the original on 25 July 2016
Further reading
- “literal”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “literal”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
literal m or f (masculine and feminine plural literals)
- literal
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
Galician
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Adjective
literal m or f (plural literais)
- literal
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
German
Pronunciation
Adjective
literal (strong nominative masculine singular literaler, comparative literaler, superlative am literalsten)
- literate (of cultures, etc., not of individuals)
Es gibt orale und literale Kulturen.- There are oral and literate cultures.
Declension
Positive forms of literal
Comparative forms of literal
Superlative forms of literal
See also
Indonesian
Etymology
From English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis, also literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera, litera (“a letter”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key):
- Hyphenation: li‧tê‧ral
Adjective
literal
- literal.
- Synonym: harfiah
Further reading
Old French
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Adjective
literal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular literale)
- literal (exactly as stated)
- literal (relating to or composed of letters)
Descendants
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -al, -aw
- Hyphenation: li‧te‧ral
Adjective
literal m or f (plural literais)
- literal (understood exactly as written, without additional interpretation)
Derived terms
Noun
literal m (plural literais)
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (programming) literal (value written in the source code)
Related terms
Further reading
- “literal” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
Romanian
Etymology
Borrowed from French littéral, from Latin litteralis. By surface analysis, literă + -al.
Adjective
literal m or n (feminine singular literală, masculine plural literali, feminine and neuter plural literale)
- literal
Declension
Spanish
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /liteˈɾal/
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: li‧te‧ral
Adjective
literal m or f (masculine and feminine plural literales)
- literal
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
Tagalog
Etymology
Borrowed from Spanish literal.
Pronunciation
- Hyphenation: li‧te‧ral
- IPA(key): /liteˈɾal/,
Adjective
literál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜆᜒᜇᜎ᜔)
- literal (exactly as stated)
Derived terms
Related terms