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.
(of persons) tending to construe words in the strict sense or in an unimaginative way; matter-of-fact; prosaic.
6.
of or pertaining to the letters of the alphabet.
7.
of the nature of letters.
8.
expressed by letters.
9.
affecting a letter or letters: a literal error.
–noun
10.
a typographical error, esp. involving a single letter.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME < LL litterālis of letters. See letter, al1]
Being in accordance with, conforming to, or upholding the exact or primary meaning of a word or words.
Word for word; verbatim: a literal translation.
Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic: a literal description; a literal mind.
Consisting of, using, or expressed by letters: literal notation.
Conforming or limited to the simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words.
n.
Computer Science
A letter or symbol that stands for itself as opposed to a feature, function, or entity associated with it in a programming language: $ can be a symbol that refers to the end of a line, but as a literal, it is a dollar sign.
[Middle English, from Old French, from Late Latin litterālis, of letters, from Latin littera, lītera, letter; see letter.]
1382, "taking words in their natural meaning" (originally in ref. 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 1599. Literal-minded is attested from 1869. Literally is often used erroneously, even by writers like Dryden and Pope, to indicate "what follows must be taken in the strongest admissible sense" (1687), which is opposite to the word's real meaning.
being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something; "her actual motive"; "a literal solitude like a desert"- G.K.Chesterton; "a genuine dilemma" [syn: actual]
2.
without interpretation or embellishment; "a literal depiction of the scene before him"
3.
limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text; "a literal translation" [ant: figurative]
4.
avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis); "it's the literal truth"
noun
1.
a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind [syn: misprint]
literalprogramming A 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)
Il*lit"er*ate\, a. [L. illiteratus: pref. il- not + literatus learned. See In- not, and Literal.] Ignorant of letters or books; unlettered; uninstructed; uneducated; as, an illiterate man, or people. Syn: Ignorant; untaught; unlearned; unlettered; unscholary. See Ignorant. -- Il*lit"er*ate*ly, adv. -- Il*lit"er*ate*ness, n.
Let"ter\, n. [OE. lettre, F. lettre, OF. letre, fr. L. littera, litera, a letter; pl., an epistle, a writing, literature, fr. linere, litum, to besmear, to spread or rub over; because one of the earliest modes of writing was by graving the characters upon tablets smeared over or covered with wax. --Pliny, xiii. 11. See Liniment, and cf. Literal.]1. A mark or character used as the representative of a sound, or of an articulation of the human organs of speech; a first element of written language. And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew. --Luke xxiii. 38. 2. A written or printed communication; a message expressed in intelligible characters on something adapted to conveyance, as paper, parchment, etc.; an epistle. The style of letters ought to be free, easy, and natural. --Walsh. 3. A writing; an inscription. [Obs.] None could expound what this letter meant. --Chaucer. 4. Verbal expression; literal statement or meaning; exact signification or requirement. We must observe the letter of the law, without doing violence to the reason of the law and the intention of the lawgiver. --Jer. Taylor. I broke the letter of it to keep the sense. --Tennyson. 5. (Print.) A single type; type, collectively; a style of type. Under these buildings . . . was the king's printing house, and that famous letter so much esteemed. --Evelyn. 6. pl. Learning; erudition; as, a man of letters. 7. pl. A letter; an epistle. [Obs.] --Chaucer. Dead letter, Drop letter, etc. See under Dead, Drop, etc. Letter book, a book in which copies of letters are kept. Letter box, a box for the reception of letters to be mailed or delivered. Letter carrier, a person who carries letters; a postman; specif., an officer of the post office who carries letters to the persons to whom they are addressed, and collects letters to be mailed. Letter cutter, one who engraves letters or letter punches. Letter lock, a lock that can not be opened when fastened, unless certain movable lettered rings or disks forming a part of it are in such a position (indicated by a particular combination of the letters) as to permit the bolt to be withdrawn. A strange lock that opens with AMEN. --Beau. & Fl. Letter paper, paper for writing letters on; especially, a size of paper intermediate between note paper and foolscap. See Paper. Letter punch, a steel punch with a letter engraved on the end, used in making the matrices for type. Letters of administration (Law), the instrument by which an administrator or administratrix is authorized to administer the goods and estate of a deceased person. Letter of attorney, Letter of credit, etc. See under Attorney, Credit, etc. Letter of license, a paper by which creditors extend a debtor's time for paying his debts. Letters close or clause (Eng. Law.), letters or writs directed to particular persons for particular purposes, and hence closed or sealed on the outside; -- distinguished from letters patent. --Burrill. Letters of orders (Eccl.), a document duly signed and sealed, by which a bishop makes it known that he has regularly ordained a certain person as priest, deacon, etc. Letters patent, overt, or open (Eng. Law), a writing executed and sealed, by which power and authority are granted to a person to do some act, or enjoy some right; as, letters patent under the seal of England. Letter-sheet envelope, a stamped sheet of letter paper issued by the government, prepared to be folded and sealed for transmission by mail without an envelope. Letters testamentary (Law), an instrument granted by the proper officer to an executor after probate of a will, authorizing him to act as executor. Letter writer. (a) One who writes letters. (b) A machine for copying letters. (c) A book giving directions and forms for the writing of letters.
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