literal
['litәrәl]
a. 逐, , 文, 母

n. 印刷错误

[] 文; 接; ; 句



literal
[ noun ]

1. a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind

<noun.communication>

[ adj ]

1. limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text

<adj.all>
a literal translation

2. being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something

<adj.all>
her actual motive
a literal solitude like a desert
a genuine dilemma

3. without interpretation or embellishment

<adj.all>
a literal depiction of the scene before him

4. avoiding embellishment or exaggeration (used for emphasis)

<adj.all>
it's the literal truth

Literal \Lit"er*al\, n.
Literal meaning. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.


Literal \Lit"er*al\ (l[i^]t"[~e]r*al), a. [F. lit['e]ral,
litt['e]ral, L. litteralis, literalis, fr. littera, litera, a
letter. See {Letter}.]
1. According to the letter or verbal expression; real; not
figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a
phrase.

It hath but one simple literal sense whose light the
owls can not abide. --Tyndale.

2. Following the letter or exact words; not free.

A middle course between the rigor of literal
translations and the liberty of paraphrasts.
--Hooker.

3. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.

The literal notation of numbers was known to
Europeans before the ciphers. --Johnson.

4. Giving a strict or literal construction; unimaginative;
matter-of-fact; -- applied to persons.

{Literal contract} (Law), a contract of which the whole
evidence is given in writing. --Bouvier.

{Literal equation} (Math.), an equation in which known
quantities are expressed either wholly or in part by means
of letters; -- distinguished from a {numerical equation}.