literal
English edit
Alternative forms edit
- litteral (obsolete)
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
- 2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club[2]:
- 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, Is There a Meaning in this Text?, quoted on https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/13136/what-is-the-difference-between-a-literal-and-literalistic-interpretation-of:
- It is most important to distinguish literalistic from literal interpretation. The former generates an unlettered, ultimately illiterate reading—one that is incapable of recognizing less obvious uses of language such as metaphor, satire, and so forth. ... Interpreters err either when they allegorize discourse that is intended to be taken literally or when they "literalize" discourse that is intended to be taken figuratively.
- 1998, Kevin Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in this Text?, quoted on https://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/questions/13136/what-is-the-difference-between-a-literal-and-literalistic-interpretation-of:
- (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 edit
- (antonym(s) of "exactly as stated"): figurative, metaphorical, nonliteral, illiteral
Hyponyms edit
Derived terms edit
Derived terms
- 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
exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation
|
following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
|
consisting of, or expressed by, letters
|
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
Translations edit
programming: value written in the source code
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, Royal Galician Academy.
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
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
Superlative forms of literal
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 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
Declension of literal
| 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)
- literal
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Further reading edit
- “literal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Tagalog edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Spanish literal.
Pronunciation edit
Adjective edit
literál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜆᜒᜇᜎ᜔)
- literal (exactly as stated)