literal
English
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]Adjective
[edit]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[iam] Stansby [for Matthew Lownes], published 1611, →OCLC, (please specify the page):
- a middle course between the rigour of literal translations and the liberty of paraphrasts
- 1989, “Preface to the New Revised Standard Version”, in Bible Research[2]:
- Within the constraints set by the original texts and by the mandates of the Division, the Committee has followed the maxim, 'As literal as possible, as free as necessary.' As a consequence, the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) remains essentially a literal translation.
- 2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club[3]:
- 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
- 1998, Kevin Vanhoozer, “6. Redeeming the Text: The Rationality of Literary Acts”, in Is There a Meaning in This Text?, page 311:
- It is most important to distinguish literalistic from literal interpretation. [...] ‘Literalistic’ interpretation is like word-for-word translation that yields the verbally exact or ‘formally equivalent’ versions but also runs the risk of overlooking the main (illocutionary) point. Literal interpretation, on the other hand, is more like a translation that strives for dynamic equivalence and yields the literary sense.
- (uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet); using literation.
- 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.
- Misspelling of littoral.
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “exactly as stated”): figurative, metaphorical, nonliteral, illiteral
Hyponyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]- antiliteral
- biliteral
- duoliteral
- hyperliteralism
- illiteral
- literal equation
- literalism
- literalist
- literalistic
- literalize, literalise
- literally
- literal-minded
- literalness
- literal rule
- literal theonymy
- monoliteral
- multiliteral
- pluriliteral
- quadriliteral
- quinqueliteral
- transliteral
- triliteral
- uniliteral
Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]
|
|
|
Noun
[edit]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
- Misspelling of littoral.
Translations
[edit]See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ “Archived copy”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)[1], 2016 June 6 (last accessed), archived from the original on 25 July 2016
Further reading
[edit]- “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
[edit]Catalan
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]literal m or f (masculine and feminine plural literals)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “literal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
Galician
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Adjective
[edit]literal m or f (plural literais)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “literal”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2024
German
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]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
[edit]number & gender | singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | neuter | |||
predicative | er ist literal | sie ist literal | es ist literal | sie sind literal | |
strong declension (without article) |
nominative | literaler | literale | literales | literale |
genitive | literalen | literaler | literalen | literaler | |
dative | literalem | literaler | literalem | literalen | |
accusative | literalen | literale | literales | literale | |
weak declension (with definite article) |
nominative | der literale | die literale | das literale | die literalen |
genitive | des literalen | der literalen | des literalen | der literalen | |
dative | dem literalen | der literalen | dem literalen | den literalen | |
accusative | den literalen | die literale | das literale | die literalen | |
mixed declension (with indefinite article) |
nominative | ein literaler | eine literale | ein literales | (keine) literalen |
genitive | eines literalen | einer literalen | eines literalen | (keiner) literalen | |
dative | einem literalen | einer literalen | einem literalen | (keinen) literalen | |
accusative | einen literalen | eine literale | ein literales | (keine) literalen |
See also
[edit]Indonesian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]Adjective
[edit]literal
Further reading
[edit]- “literal” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.
Old French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Adjective
[edit]literal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular literale)
Descendants
[edit]Portuguese
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Pronunciation
[edit]
Adjective
[edit]literal m or f (plural literais)
- literal (understood exactly as written, without additional interpretation)
Derived terms
[edit]Noun
[edit]literal m (plural literais)
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (programming) literal (value written in the source code)
Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “literal” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913
Romanian
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from French littéral, from Latin litteralis. By surface analysis, literă + -al.
Adjective
[edit]literal m or n (feminine singular literală, masculine plural literali, feminine and neuter plural literale)
Declension
[edit]singular | plural | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | |||
nominative- accusative |
indefinite | literal | literală | literali | literale | |||
definite | literalul | literala | literalii | literalele | ||||
genitive- dative |
indefinite | literal | literale | literali | literale | |||
definite | literalului | literalei | literalilor | literalelor |
Spanish
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]literal m or f (masculine and feminine plural literales)
Adverb
[edit]literal
- (colloquial) literally
- 2020 December 31, @sofsweets, Twitter[4], archived from the original on 2024-07-18:
- buenas noches, promociono esto porque literal en segundos ya me volví orgullosa de lo que escribí
- good night, i'm touting this because I literally became proud of what I've written in seconds
- 2021 December 31, @Micaaaottone, Twitter[5], archived from the original on 2024-07-18:
- Amo peinar, lo hago con tanto amor que literal espero que algún dia, esta sea mi profesión❤
- I love combing, I do it with so much love that I literally hope one day this will become my occupation
- 2023 December 31, @stiIwhu, Twitter[6], archived from the original on 2024-07-18:
- Hermanas me puse un vestido re lindo, azul oscuro con detalles en negro y dorado literal mi mejor compra del año
- Sisters I donned a very pretty dress, dark blue with golden and black details literally my best purchase of the year
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- “literal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28
- @RAEinforma (2020 May 6) Twitter[7] (in Spanish), archived from the original on 2024-07-18: “#RAEconsultas El uso ponderativo del adjetivo «literal» como adverbio (de forma similar al de otros adjetivos como «natural») se ha extendido en la lengua de hoy, pero pertenece al nivel coloquial. Es preferible el uso en estos casos de «literalmente».”
Tagalog
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from Spanish literal.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Standard Tagalog) IPA(key): /liteˈɾal/ [lɪ.t̪ɛˈɾal]
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: li‧te‧ral
Adjective
[edit]literál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜆᜒᜇᜎ᜔)
- literal (exactly as stated)
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Theology
- English terms with uncommon senses
- English proscribed terms
- English misspellings
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Typography
- en:Programming
- en:Logic
- English contranyms
- Catalan terms borrowed from Late Latin
- Catalan terms derived from Late Latin
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Catalan epicene adjectives
- Galician terms borrowed from Late Latin
- Galician terms derived from Late Latin
- Galician lemmas
- Galician adjectives
- German 3-syllable words
- German terms with IPA pronunciation
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:German/aːl
- Rhymes:German/aːl/3 syllables
- German lemmas
- German adjectives
- German terms with usage examples
- Indonesian terms borrowed from English
- Indonesian terms derived from English
- Indonesian terms derived from Old French
- Indonesian terms derived from Late Latin
- Indonesian terms derived from Latin
- Indonesian 3-syllable words
- Indonesian terms with IPA pronunciation
- Indonesian lemmas
- Indonesian adjectives
- Old French terms borrowed from Late Latin
- Old French terms derived from Late Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French adjectives
- Portuguese terms borrowed from Late Latin
- Portuguese terms derived from Late Latin
- Portuguese 3-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese 4-syllable words
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al/3 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw/3 syllables
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Portuguese nouns
- Portuguese countable nouns
- Portuguese masculine nouns
- pt:Programming
- Romanian terms borrowed from French
- Romanian terms derived from French
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms suffixed with -al
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Spanish terms borrowed from Late Latin
- Spanish terms derived from Late Latin
- Spanish 3-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Spanish/al
- Rhymes:Spanish/al/3 syllables
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- Spanish epicene adjectives
- Spanish adverbs
- Spanish colloquialisms
- Spanish terms with quotations
- Tagalog terms borrowed from Spanish
- Tagalog terms derived from Spanish
- Tagalog 3-syllable words
- Tagalog terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Tagalog/al
- Rhymes:Tagalog/al/3 syllables
- Tagalog terms with mabilis pronunciation
- Tagalog lemmas
- Tagalog adjectives
- Tagalog terms with Baybayin script