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literal
lit·er·al / ˈlitərəl; ˈlitrəl/ • adj. 1. taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory: dreadful in its literal sense, full of dread. ∎ free from exaggeration or distortion: you shouldn't take this as a literal record of events. ∎ inf. absolute (used to emphasize that a strong expression is deliberately chosen to convey one's feelings): fifteen years of literal hell. 2. (of a translation) representing the exact words of the original text. ∎ (of a visual representation) exactly copied; realistic as opposed to abstract or impressionistic. 3. (also literal-minded) (of a person or performance) lacking imagination; prosaic. 4. of, in, or expressed by a letter or the letters of the alphabet: literal mnemonics. DERIVATIVES: lit·er·al·i·ty / ˌlitəˈralətē/ lit·er·al·ize / -ˌlīz/ v. lit·er·al·ness n. |
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"literal." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "literal." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-literal.html "literal." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-literal.html |
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LITERAL
LITERAL.
1. A term traditionally opposed to figurative and metaphorical. Although it is generally unrelated to LETTERS, LITERACY, and LITERATURE, it suggests the influence of the letter as a measure of strictness and rightness: the literal truth is seen as being true in a basic and absolute way. If something is done literally, a person follows instructions ‘to the letter’, without flexibility or imagination. Paradoxically, however, the adverb literally is often used to mean figuratively: ‘And with his eyes he literally scoured the corners of the cell’ ( Vladimir Nabokov, Invitation to a Beheading, 1960). See FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 2. A term in proof-reading for a misprint such as the substitution of one letter for another, the omission or addition of a letter, or letters transposed (for example, parodixical, responsiblity, assumed, phenonemon, prniter). |
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TOM McARTHUR. "LITERAL." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. TOM McARTHUR. "LITERAL." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LITERAL.html TOM McARTHUR. "LITERAL." Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-LITERAL.html |
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literal
literal pert. to a letter or letters. XIV. — (O)F. litéral or late L. lit(t)erālis, f. lit(t)era LETTER; see -AL1.
So literary XVII. — L. literate educated, learned XV; literary. XVII. — L. literature polite learning XIV; literary work XVIII. — (partly through F. littérature) L. lit(t)erātūra (coll.) alphabetic letters, grammar, learning. literatim letter by letter. XVII. — medL. |
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T. F. HOAD. "literal." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "literal." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-literal.html T. F. HOAD. "literal." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-literal.html |
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literal
literal A word or symbol in a program that stands for itself rather than as a name for something else, i.e. an object whose value is determined by its denotation. Numbers are literals; if other symbols are used as literals it is necessary to use some form of quoting mechanism to distinguish them from variables.
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JOHN DAINTITH. "literal." A Dictionary of Computing. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN DAINTITH. "literal." A Dictionary of Computing. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O11-literal.html JOHN DAINTITH. "literal." A Dictionary of Computing. 2004. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O11-literal.html |
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literal
literal •apparel, barrel, carol, Carole, carrel, Carroll, Darrell, Darryl, Farrell
•gambrel • spandrel
•astral, plastral
•cracker-barrel
•Errol, feral
•petrel, petrol
•spectral
•central, epicentral, ventral
•ancestral, kestrel, orchestral
•dextral • Sacheverell • mayoral
•sacral • wastrel • cerebral
•anhedral, cathedral, dihedral, tetrahedral
•hypaethral (US hypethral), urethral
•squirrel, Tyrol, Wirral
•timbrel, whimbrel
•minstrel • arbitral • sinistral • integral
•triumviral
•spiral, viral
•amoral, Balmoral, coral, immoral, laurel, moral, quarrel, sorel, sorrel
•cockerel, Cockerell
•dotterel • rostral
•aboral, aural, choral, floral, goral, oral
•austral, claustral
•scoundrel • cloistral • neutral • figural
•augural
•demurral, Durrell
•mongrel • sepulchral • lustral
•spheral • retiral
•crural, jural, mural, neural, plural, rural
•illiberal, liberal
•natural • federal • peripheral
•doggerel • mackerel • pickerel
•bicameral, unicameral
•admiral
•ephemeral, femoral
•humeral, numeral
•general • mineral • funeral
•spatio-temporal, temporal
•corporal • tesseral • visceral
•bilateral, collateral, equilateral, lateral, multilateral, quadrilateral, trilateral, unilateral
•pastoral
•electoral, pectoral, prefectoral, protectoral
•clitoral, literal, littoral, presbyteral
•dipteral, peripteral
•doctoral • several • behavioural
•conferral, deferral, referral, transferral
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"literal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 13 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "literal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 13, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-literal.html "literal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 13, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-literal.html |
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