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literalness

Variant of literal

adjective

  1. of, involving, or expressed by a letter or letters of the alphabet: literal notation
  2. following or representing the exact words of the original; word-for-word: a literal translation
    1. based on the actual words in their ordinary meaning; not figurative or symbolic: the literal meaning of a passage
    2. giving the actual denotation of the word: said of the senses of words
    3. giving the original or earlier meaning of a word; etymological: the literal meaning of ponder is “to weigh”
    1. habitually interpreting statements or words according to their actual denotation; prosaic; matter-of-fact: a literal mind
    2. having a literal mind; lacking imagination
  3. real; not going beyond the actual facts; accurate; unvarnished: the literal truth
  4. being so in fact but not in name; virtual: the chairperson is a literal dictator

noun

Chiefly Brit. a typographical error

Related Forms:

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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