Literal language is the usage ofwords exactly according to their direct, straightforward, or conventionally acceptedmeanings: theirdenotation.
Figurative (ornon-literal)language is the usage of words in addition to, or deviating beyond, their conventionally accepted definitions[1][2] in order to convey a more complex meaning or achieve a heightened effect.[3] This is done by language-users presenting words in such a way that their audience equates, compares, or associates the words with normally unrelated meanings. A common intended effect of figurative language is to elicit audience responses that are especially emotional (like excitement, shock, laughter, etc.), aesthetic, or intellectual.
Theancient Greek philosopherAristotle, and later the Roman rhetoricianQuintilian, were among the early documented language analysts who expounded on the differences between literal and figurative language.[4] A comprehensive scholarly examination of metaphor in antiquity, and the way its use was fostered byHomer's epic poemsThe Iliad andThe Odyssey, is provided byWilliam Bedell Stanford.[5]
Withinliterary analysis, the terms "literal" and "figurative" are still used; but within the fields of cognition and linguistics, the basis for identifying such a distinction is no longer used.[6]
Literal usage confers meaning to words, in the sense of the meaning words have by themselves,[7] for example as defined in a dictionary. It maintains a consistent meaning regardless of thecontext,[8] with the intended meaning of a phrase corresponding exactly to the meaning of its individual words.[9] On the other hand, figurative use of language (a later offshoot being the termfigure of speech[citation needed]) is the use of words or phrases with a meaning that does make literal sense but that encourages certain mental associations or reflects a certain type of truth,[10] perhaps a more artistically presented one.
Uses of figurative language, or figures of speech, can take multiple forms, such assimile,metaphor,hyperbole, and many others.[11]Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature says that figurative language can be classified in five categories: resemblance or relationship, emphasis orunderstatement, figures of sound, verbal games, and errors.[12]
Asimile[13] is a comparison of two things, indicated by some connective, usually "like", "as", "than", or a verb such as "resembles" to show how they are similar.[14]
Example: "His cheeks werelike roses, his noselike a cherry.../And the beard on his chin wasas white as the snow." (emph added)—Clement Clark Moore[15]
Ametaphor[16] is a figure of speech in which two "essentially unlike things" are shown to have a type of resemblance or create a new image.[17] The similarities between the objects being compared may be implied rather than directly stated.[17] The literary critic and rhetorician,I. A. Richards, divides a metaphor into two parts: the vehicle and the tenor.[18]
Example: "Fog comes on little cat feet"—Carl Sandburg[19] In this example, “little cat feet” is the vehicle that clarifies the tenor, “fog”. A comparison between the vehicle and tenor (also called theteritium comparitionis) is implicit: fog creeps in silently like a cat.
Example: "The sky steps out of her daywear/Slips into her shot-silk evening dress./An entourage of bats whirr and swing at her hem, ...She's tried on every item in her wardrobe."Dilys Rose[22]
Onomatopoeia is a word designed to be an imitation of a sound.[23]
Example: “Bark! Bark!” went the dog as he chased the car that vroomed past.
Personification[24] is the attribution of a personal nature or character to inanimate objects or abstract notions,[25] especially as a rhetorical figure.
Example: "Because I could not stop for Death,/He kindly stopped for me;/The carriage held but just ourselves/And Immortality."—Emily Dickinson. Dickinson portrays death as a carriage driver.[25]
Anoxymoron is a figure of speech in which a pair of opposite or contradictory terms is used together for emphasis.[26]
Examples: Organized chaos, Same difference, Bittersweet.
Aparadox is a statement or proposition which is self-contradictory, unreasonable, or illogical.[27]
Example: This statement is a lie.
Hyperbole is a figure of speech which uses an extravagant or exaggerated statement to express strong feelings.[28]
Example: They had been walking so long that John thought he might drink the entire lake when they came upon it.
Allusion is a reference to a famous character or event.
Example: A single step can take you through the looking glass if you're not careful.
Anidiom is an expression that has a figurative meaning often related, but different from the literal meaning of the phrase.
Example: You should keep your eye out for him.
Apun is an expression intended for a humorous or rhetorical effect by exploiting different meanings of words.
Example: I wondered why the ball was getting bigger. Then it hit me.
Commentators have often noted (and sometimes criticized) how the wordliterally itself is very commonly now used non-literally to intensify the meaning of a sentence (as in "I literally died of laughter", where clearly the speaker did not die). Far from this being a recent development, however, this usage goes at least as far back as the 19th century.Frances Brooke's 1769 novelThe History of Emily Montague was used in the earliestOxford English Dictionary (OED) citation for the figurative sense ofliterally; the sentence from the novel used was: "He is a fortunate man to be introduced to such a party of fine women at his arrival; it is literallyto feed among the lilies."[29] This citation was also used in the OED's 2011 revision.[29]
Prior to the 1980s, the "standard pragmatic" model of comprehension was widely believed. In that model, it was thought the recipient would first attempt to comprehend the meaning as if literal, but when an appropriate literal inference could not be made, the recipient would shift to look for a figurative interpretation that would allow comprehension.[30] Since then, research has cast doubt on the model. In tests, figurative language was found to be comprehended at the same speed as literal language; and so the premise that the recipient was first attempting to process a literal meaning and discarding it before attempting to process a figurative meaning appears to be false.[31]
Beginning with the work of Michael Reddy in his 1979 paper "The Conduit Metaphor", many linguists now deny that there is a valid way to distinguish between a "literal" and "figurative" mode of language.[32] Nevertheless, work has continued on making such a distinction.[33]
^"Figure of speech."Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. 2015 "figure of speech [...]: a form of expression (such as a simile or metaphor) used to convey meaning or heighten effect often by comparing or identifying one thing with another that has a meaning or connotation familiar to the reader or listener".
^Nuessel, F. (2009). "Figurative Language: Semiotics". In Barber, Alex; Stainton, Robert J. (eds.).Concise Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Language and Linguistics. Elsevier. pp. 230–242.ISBN978-0080965000. Retrieved23 December 2012.Traditional scholars maintain a strict dichotomy between figurative language and ordinary or literal language. This conventional aesthetic sense of figurative language no longer reflects current usage. Today, the term 'metaphor' has replace 'figurative language' with the special sense of a cognitive device used to explain how people categorize reality and store abstractions of that physical existence in their brain. [...] The essence of the literal-figurative debate revolves around whether or not metaphor is a deviation from some pristine ordinary language or whether it is a basic form of linguistic expression.
^Origin: 1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: image, likeness, comparison, noun use of neuter ofsimilis similar."Simile".simile, n. Oxford English Dictionary.
^Origin: 1525–35; < Latinmetaphora < Greekmetaphorá a transfer, akin tometaphérein to transfer. See meta-, -phore"Metaphor".metaphor, n. Oxford English Dictionary.
^Origin: 1570–80; < Late Latin < Greekonomatopoiía making of words = onomato- (combining form of ónoma name) + poi- (stem of poieîn to make; see poet) + -ia -ia"Onomatopoeia".onomatopoeia, n. Oxford English Dictionary.
^Origin: 1745–55; personi(fy) + -fication"Personification".personification, n. Oxford English Dictionary.
^Origin: < post-classical Latin oxymoron, figure of speech in which a pair of opposed or markedly contradictory terms are placed in conjunction for emphasis (5th cent.; alsooxymorum) < ancient Greek ὀξυ-oxy- comb. form1+ μωρόςdull, stupid, foolish (see moron n.2)."Oxymoron". Oxford English Dictionary.
^Origin: < Middle French, Frenchparadoxe (1495 as noun; 1372–74 in pluralparadoxesas the title of a work by Cicero; paradoxon (noun) philosophical paradox in post-classical Latin also a figure of speech < ancient Greek παράδοξον, especially in plural παράδοξαStoical paradoxes, use as noun of neuter singular of παράδοξος (adjective) contrary to received opinion or expectation < παρα-para- prefix1+ δόξαopinion (see doxology n.), after ancient Greek παρὰ δόξαν contrary to expectation"Paradox".paradox, n. Oxford English Dictionary.
^Origin: < Greek ὑπερβολήexcess (compare hyperbola n.), exaggeration; the latter sense is first found in Isocrates and Aristotle. Compare French hyperbole (earlier yperbole)."Hyperbole".hyperbol e, n. Oxford English Dictionary.
^For example:Steen, Gerard J.; Dorst, Aletta G.; Herrmann, J. Berenike; Kaal, Anna; Krennmayr, Tina; Pasma, Tryntje (2010).A Method for Linguistic Metaphor Identification: From MIP to MIPVU. Converging evidence in language and communication research, ISSN 1566-7774, volume 14. John Benjamins Publishing Company.ISBN9789027239044. Retrieved2 May 2025.
Metaphor and Meaning from Minerva – An Internet Journal of Philosophy. An account of how metaphor provides new perspectives, deepens understanding, and is a major tool of linguistic development.
