Literal (l&ibreve_;t&etilde_;r&aitalic_;l), a. [F. litéral, littéral, 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.
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It hath but one simple literal sense whose light the owls can not abide. Tyndale.
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2. Following the letter or exact words; not free.
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A middle course between the rigor of literal translations and the liberty of paraphrasts. Hooker.
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3. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.
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The literal notation of numbers was known to Europeans before the ciphers. Johnson.
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4. Giving a strict or literal construction; unimaginative; matter-of-fact; -- applied to persons.
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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.
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