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l
adjective
1.
in accordance with, involving, or being the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical: the literal meaning of a word.
2.
following the words of the original very closely and exactly: a literal translation of Goethe.
3.
true to fact; not exaggerated; actual or factual: a literal description of conditions.
4.
being actually such, without exaggeration or inaccuracy: the literal extermination of a city.
5.
EXPAND(of persons) tending to construe words in the strict sense or in an unimaginative way; matter-of-fact; prosaic.
noun
10.
a typographical error, especially involving a single letter.
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Literal
is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
Related forms
lit·er·al·ness, noun
non·lit·er·al, adjective
non·lit·er·al·ly, adverb
non·lit·er·al·ness, noun
o·ver·lit·er·al, adjective
EXPANDSynonyms
3. truthful, exact, reliable.
3. truthful, exact, reliable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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|
Link To literal
Collins
World English Dictionary
| literal (ˈlɪtərəl) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | in exact accordance with or limited to the primary or explicit meaning of a word or text |
| 2. | word for word |
| 3. | dull, factual, or prosaic |
| 4. | consisting of, concerning, or indicated by letters |
| 5. | true; actual |
| 6. | maths Compare numerical containing or using coefficients and constants represented by letters: ax² + b is a literal expression |
| —n | |
| 7. | Also called: literal error a misprint or misspelling in a text |
| [C14: from Late Latin litterālis concerning letters, from Latin littera | |
| 'literalness | |
| —n | |
| literality | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
literal
late 14c., "taking words in their natural meaning" (originally in reference to Scripture and opposed to mystical or allegorical), from O.Fr. literal, from L.L. lit(t)eralis "of or belonging to letters or writing," from L. lit(t)era "letter." Sense of "verbally exact" is attested from 1590s. Literal-minded
EXPANDis attested from 1869.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary
literal definition
programmingA constant made available to a process, by inclusion in the executable text. Most modern systems do not allow texts to modify themselves during execution, so literals are indeed constant; their value is written at compile-time and is read-only at run time.
In contrast, values placed in variables or files and accessed by the process via a symbolic name, can be changed during execution. This may be an asset. For example, messages can be given in a choice of languages by placing the translation in a file.
Literals are used when such modification is not desired. The name of the file mentioned above (not its content), or a physical constant such as 3.14159, might be coded as a literal. Literals can be accessed quickly, a potential advantage of their use.
(1996-01-23)
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