Wiktionary

literal

English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Adjective

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literal (comparative more literal, superlative most literal)

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. (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.
  4. (uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet); using literation.
    a literal equation
  5. (of a person) Unimaginative; matter-of-fact
  6. (proscribed) Used non-literally as an intensifier; see literally for usage notes.
    Telemarketers are the literal worst.
  7. Misspelling of littoral.

Antonyms

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Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Derived terms
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Translations

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Noun

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literal (plural literals)

  2. (epigraphy, typography) A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.
    Synonym: typo
  3. (programming) A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.
    Synonym: literal constant
  4. (logic) A propositional variable or the negation of a propositional variable. Wp
  5. Misspelling of littoral.

Translations

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ “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

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Anagrams

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Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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literal m or f (masculine and feminine plural literals)

  1. literal

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Galician

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.

Adjective

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literal m or f (plural literais)

  1. literal

Derived terms

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Further reading

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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literal (strong nominative masculine singular literaler, comparative literaler, superlative am literalsten)

  1. literate (of cultures, etc., not of individuals)
    Es gibt orale und literale Kulturen.
    There are oral and literate cultures.

Declension

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Positive forms of literal
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
Comparative forms of literal
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist literaler sie ist literaler es ist literaler sie sind literaler
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative literalerer literalere literaleres literalere
genitive literaleren literalerer literaleren literalerer
dative literalerem literalerer literalerem literaleren
accusative literaleren literalere literaleres literalere
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der literalere die literalere das literalere die literaleren
genitive des literaleren der literaleren des literaleren der literaleren
dative dem literaleren der literaleren dem literaleren den literaleren
accusative den literaleren die literalere das literalere die literaleren
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein literalerer eine literalere ein literaleres (keine) literaleren
genitive eines literaleren einer literaleren eines literaleren (keiner) literaleren
dative einem literaleren einer literaleren einem literaleren (keinen) literaleren
accusative einen literaleren eine literalere ein literaleres (keine) literaleren
Superlative forms of literal
number & gender singular plural
masculine feminine neuter
predicative er ist am literalsten sie ist am literalsten es ist am literalsten sie sind am literalsten
strong declension
(without article) 		nominative literalster literalste literalstes literalste
genitive literalsten literalster literalsten literalster
dative literalstem literalster literalstem literalsten
accusative literalsten literalste literalstes literalste
weak declension
(with definite article) 		nominative der literalste die literalste das literalste die literalsten
genitive des literalsten der literalsten des literalsten der literalsten
dative dem literalsten der literalsten dem literalsten den literalsten
accusative den literalsten die literalste das literalste die literalsten
mixed declension
(with indefinite article) 		nominative ein literalster eine literalste ein literalstes (keine) literalsten
genitive eines literalsten einer literalsten eines literalsten (keiner) literalsten
dative einem literalsten einer literalsten einem literalsten (keinen) literalsten
accusative einen literalsten eine literalste ein literalstes (keine) literalsten

See also

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Indonesian

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Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): [litəˈral]
  • Hyphenation: li‧tê‧ral

Adjective

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literal

  1. literal.
    Synonym: harfiah

Further reading

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Old French

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.

Adjective

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literal m (oblique and nominative feminine singular literale)

  1. literal (exactly as stated)
  2. literal (relating to or composed of letters)

Descendants

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  • English: literal
  • French: littéral

Portuguese

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.

Pronunciation

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  • Rhymes: -al, -aw
  • Hyphenation: li‧te‧ral

Adjective

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literal m or f (plural literais)

  1. literal (understood exactly as written, without additional interpretation)

Derived terms

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Noun

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literal m (plural literais)

  1. (Can we verify(+) this sense?) (programming) literal (value written in the source code)
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Further reading

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  • “literal” in Dicionário Aberto based on Novo Diccionário da Língua Portuguesa de Cândido de Figueiredo, 1913

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French littéral, from Latin litteralis. By surface analysis, literă +‎ -al.

Adjective

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literal m or n (feminine singular literală, masculine plural literali, feminine and neuter plural literale)

  1. literal

Declension

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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

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin litterālis.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /liteˈɾal/ [li.t̪eˈɾal]
  • Rhymes: -al
  • Syllabification: li‧te‧ral

Adjective

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literal m or f (masculine and feminine plural literales)

  1. literal

Adverb

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literal

  1. (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

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Further reading

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  • “literal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
  • @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

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Spanish literal.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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literál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜆᜒᜇᜎ᜔)

  1. literal (exactly as stated)

Derived terms

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