literal
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
Part or all of this page has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
[edit] Etymology
< Old French literal < Late Latin litteralis, also literalis (“‘of or pertaining to letters or to writing’”) < Latin littera, litera (“‘a letter’”); see letter.
[edit] Adjective
literal (comparative more literal, superlative most literal)
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Positive |
Comparative |
Superlative |
- Exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation; according to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical.
- The literal translation is “hands full of bananas” but it means empty-handed.
- 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.
- Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.
[edit] Antonyms
- (exactly as stated): figurative
[edit] Related terms
[edit] Translations
exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation
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following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
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consisting of, or expressed by, letters
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
literal (plural literals)
- (programming) A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.
[edit] Translations
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- literal in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- literal in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
[edit] Spanish
[edit] Adjective
literal m. and f. (plural literales)
