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