FromMiddle English literal Old French literal Late Latin litteralis literalis ( “ of or pertaining to letters or to writing ” ) , fromLatin littera litera ( “ a letter ” ) . Seeletter
literal (comparative moreliteral ,superlative mostliteral )
Exactly asstated ;read orunderstood withoutinterpretation ;according to theletter ; notfigurative ormetaphorical ;following the letter or exact words; not takingliberties ;etymonic rather thanidiomatic .Synonyms: verbatim word-for-word Theliteral translation of Spanishirse al otro barrio Aliteral reading of the law would prohibit it, but that is clearly not the intent.
[ 1594 ] Richard Hooker , edited byJ[ohn] S[penser] ,Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, [ … ] , London: [ … ] Iohn Windet , [ … ] →OCLC (please specify the page) :a middle course between the rigour ofliteral translations and the liberty of paraphrasts
Actual ,real ,physical .2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks ”, inThe Onion AV Club :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 aliteral monster truck in a field next to a woman (also pretending to be a teenager) riding a horse.
( hermeneutics ) ( loosely ) plainest reading of a giventext is correct but which allows formetaphor wherecontext indicates it.( theology , specifically) historical-grammatical method ofbiblical interpretation.1998 Kevin Vanhoozer , “6. Redeeming the Text: The Rationality of Literary Acts”, inIs There a Meaning in This Text? ,page311 :It is most important to distinguish literalistic fromliteral 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 ) letters (of analphabet ); usingliteration .aliteral equation
( of a person ) Unimaginative ;matter-of-fact ;literal-minded .( proscribed ) Used nonliterally as an intensifier. Seeliterally Telemarketers are theliteral worst.
Misspelling oflittoral .exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
Arabic:لَفْظِيّ ( lafẓiyy ) ,حَرْفِيّ ( ḥarfiyy ) Aragonese:literal Armenian:բառացի (hy) ( baṙacʻi ) Asturian:lliteral Bulgarian:буквален (bg) ( bukvalen ) Catalan:literal (ca) Chinese:Mandarin:字面 (zh) ( zìmiàn ) Czech:doslovný (cs) Danish:bogstavelig Dutch:letterlijk (nl) Esperanto:laŭvorta Faroese:bókstavligur Finnish:kirjaimellinen (fi) ,sananmukainen French:littéral (fr) Galician:literal (gl) German:wörtlich (de) ,buchstäblich (de) Greek:κατά γράμμα (el) ( katá grámma ) Hungarian:szó szerinti (hu) Icelandic:bókstaflegur (is) Indonesian:literal harfiah (id) Irish:beacht Italian:letterale (it) ,alla lettera Japanese:逐語的な ( ちくごてきな, chikugoteki na ) Macedonian:буквален ( bukvalen ) Māori:pūrite Old English:stæflīċ Persian:تحتاللفظی ( taht-ol-lafzi ) Polish:dosłowny (pl) ,literalny (pl) Portuguese:literal (pt) Romanian:literally m or n literală f Russian:буква́льный (ru) ( bukválʹnyj ) ,досло́вный (ru) ( doslóvnyj ) Slovak:doslovný Spanish:literal (es) Swedish:bokstavlig (sv) Vietnamese:nghĩa đen (vi) ,sát nghĩa ( of a translation ) ,nguyên văn (vi) ( of a translation ) Welsh:llythrennol (cy)
following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
Armenian:բառացի (hy) ( baṙacʻi ) Bulgarian:дословен ( dosloven ) Chinese:Mandarin:逐字逐句 (zh) ( zhúzìzhújù ) Czech:doslovný (cs) Dutch:letterlijk (nl) ,strikt (nl) Esperanto:laŭvorta Finnish:kirjaimellinen (fi) ,sananmukainen sanatarkka French:littéral (fr) Galician:literal (gl) m or f German:buchstäblich (de) Hungarian:szó szerinti (hu) ,szóról szóra történő betű szerinti Italian:letterale (it) ,alla lettera Japanese:文字通り (ja) ( もじどおり, mojidōri ) Norwegian:Bokmål:( translation ) ordrett Nynorsk:( translation ) ordrett Old English:stæflīċ Polish:dosłowny (pl) Portuguese:literal (pt) Romanian:literally m or n literală f Russian:то́чный (ru) ( tóčnyj ) ,буква́льный (ru) ( bukválʹnyj ) ,досло́вный (ru) ( doslóvnyj ) Swedish:ordagrann (sv) Welsh:llythrennol (cy)
consisting of, or expressed by, letters
literal (plural literals
( epigraphy , typography ) misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects aletter .Synonym: typo ( programming ) identifier , written into thesource code of a computer program.Synonym: literal constant ( logic ) propositional variable , or thenegation of a propositional variable.Wp Misspelling oflittoral .programming: value written in the source code
“literal ”, inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary G. & C. Merriam ,1913 ,→OCLC William Dwight Whitney ,Benjamin E[li] Smith , editors (1911 ), “literal ”, inThe Century Dictionary [ … ] The Century Co. ,→OCLC Borrowed fromLate Latin litterālis
IPA (key ) : /liteˈɾal/ Syllabification:li‧te‧ral Rhymes:-al literal (plural literals
literal Borrowed fromLate Latin litterālis
literal m or f masculine and feminine plural literals
literal Borrowed fromLate Latin litterālis
IPA (key ) : /litɛˈɾal/ [li.t̪ɛˈɾɑɫ] Rhymes:-al Hyphenation:li‧te‧ral literal m or f plural literais
literal literal (strong nominative masculine singular literaler comparative literaler superlative am literalsten
literate ( of cultures, etc., not of individuals ) Es gibt orale undliterale Kulturen. There are oral andliterate cultures. Comparative forms ofliteral
Superlative forms ofliteral
FromEnglish literal Old French literal Late Latin litteralis literalis ( “ of or pertaining to letters or to writing ” ) , fromLatin littera litera ( “ a letter ” ) . Largely displaced Dutch-borrowedleterlek
litêral (comparative lebih literalsuperlative paling literal
synonym ofharfiah Borrowed fromLate Latin litterālis
literal m oblique and nominative feminine singular literale
literal ( exactly as stated ) literal ( relating to or composed of letters ) Learned borrowing fromLate Latin litterālis
Rhymes:-al -aw Hyphenation:li‧te‧ral literal m or f plural literais
literal ( understood exactly as written, without interpretation ) literal m plural literais
(verify (+ ) this sense?) ( programming ) literal ( value written in the source code ) literal !
( colloquial , Internet slang ) literally !”; “it’s just like you say!”( used to express ecstatic agreement with something ) Synonym: real Borrowed fromFrench littéral Latin litteralis surface analysis ,literă -al
literal m or n feminine singular literală masculine plural literali feminine/neuter plural literale
literal Borrowed fromLate Latin litterālis
IPA (key ) : /liteˈɾal/ [li.t̪eˈɾal] Rhymes:-al Syllabification:li‧te‧ral literal m or f masculine and feminine plural literales
literal literal
( colloquial , intensifier) literally ,really ,truly 2020 December 31, @sofsweets,Twitter [2] the original on18 July 2024 :buenas noches, promociono esto porqueliteral en segundos ya me volví orgullosa de lo que escribí good night, i'm touting this because Iliterally became proud of what I've written in seconds 2021 December 31, @Micaaaottone,Twitter [3] the original on18 July 2024 :Amo peinar, lo hago con tanto amor queliteral espero que algún dia, esta sea mi profesión❤ I love combing, I do it with so much love that Iliterally hope one day this will become my occupation❤ 2023 December 31, @stiIwhu,Twitter [4] the original on18 July 2024 :Hermanas me puse un vestido re lindo, azul oscuro con detalles en negro y doradoliteral mi mejor compra del año Sisters I donned a very pretty dress, dark blue with golden and black detailsliterally my best purchase of the year “literal ”, inDiccionario de la lengua española Dictionary of the Spanish Language Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish:Real Academia Española ], 15 December 2025 @RAEinforma (6 May 2020),Twitter [5] the original on18 July 2024 : #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». ("The emphatic use of the adjective 'literal' as an adverb (similarly to other adjectives, like 'natural') has spread in today's language, but it belongs at the colloquial level. The use of 'literalmente' is preferable in these cases.")
Borrowed fromSpanish literal
literál (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜒᜆᜒᜇᜎ᜔
literal ( exactly as stated ) 
