literal

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• /ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/
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• UK: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• homophone: littoral
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• CMU ARPABET: L IH1 T ER0 AH0 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h2leyH-der. Old Latin leitera Latin līterader.? Proto-Hellenic *diphthérā? Ancient Greek διφθέρᾱ (diphthérā)bor. Etruscan [Term?]bor.? Latin littera Proto-Indo-European *h2el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Late Latin litterālisbor. Old French literalbor. Middle English literal English literal From Middle English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis or literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera or litera (“a letter”). See letter.

96 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: لَفْظِيّ (lafẓiyy) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Arabic: حَرْفِيّ (ḥarfiyy) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Aragonese: literal — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Armenian: բառացի (baṙacʻi) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Asturian: lliteral — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Azerbaijani: hərfi — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Bulgarian: буквален (bukvalen) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Catalan: literal — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Chinese Mandarin: 字面 (zìmiàn) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Czech: doslovný — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Danish: bogstavelig — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Dutch: letterlijk — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Esperanto: laŭvorta — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Faroese: bókstavligur — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Finnish: kirjaimellinen — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Finnish: sananmukainen — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• French: littéral — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Galician: literal — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• German: wörtlich — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• German: buchstäblich — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Greek: κατά γράμμα (katá grámma) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Hungarian: szó szerinti — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Icelandic: bókstaflegur — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Indonesian: literal — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Indonesian: harfiah — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Irish: beacht — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Italian: letterale — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Italian: alla lettera — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Japanese: 逐語的な (chikugoteki na) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Macedonian: буквален (bukvalen) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Māori: pūrite — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Old English: stæflīċ — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Persian: تحتاللفظی (taht-ol-lafzi) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Polish: dosłowny — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Polish: literalny — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Portuguese: literal — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Romanian: literală — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Russian: буква́льный (bukválʹnyj) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Russian: досло́вный (doslóvnyj) — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Serbo-Croatian: doslovan — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Serbo-Croatian: bukvalan — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Slovak: doslovný — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Spanish: literal — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Swedish: bokstavlig — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Vietnamese: nghĩa đen — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Welsh: llythrennol — exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation
• Armenian: բառացի (baṙacʻi) — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Bulgarian: дословен (dosloven) — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Chinese Mandarin: 逐字逐句 (zhúzìzhújù) — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Czech: doslovný — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Dutch: letterlijk — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Dutch: strikt — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Esperanto: laŭvorta — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Finnish: kirjaimellinen — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Finnish: sananmukainen — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Finnish: sanatarkka — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• French: littéral — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Galician: literal — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• German: buchstäblich — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Hungarian: szó szerinti — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Hungarian: szóról szóra történő — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Hungarian: betű szerinti — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Italian: letterale — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Italian: alla lettera — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Japanese: 文字通り (mojidōri) — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Norwegian Bokmål: ordrett — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Norwegian Nynorsk: ordrett — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Old English: stæflīċ — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Polish: dosłowny — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Portuguese: literal — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Romanian: literală — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Russian: то́чный (tóčnyj) — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Russian: буква́льный (bukválʹnyj) — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Russian: досло́вный (doslóvnyj) — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Swedish: ordagrann — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Welsh: llythrennol — following the letter or exact words, not taking liberties
• Bulgarian: буквен (bukven) — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Dutch: letter- — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• French: épistolaire — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Italian: letterale — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Japanese: 文字上の (mojijō no) — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Old English: stæflīċ — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Romanian: literală — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Russian: бу́квенный (búkvennyj) — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Welsh: llythrennol — consisting of, or expressed by, letters
• Chinese Mandarin: 直接量 (zhíjiēliàng) — programming: value written in the source code
• Chinese Mandarin: 字面量 (zìmiànliàng) — programming: value written in the source code
• Czech: literál — programming: value written in the source code
• Dutch: literaal — programming: value written in the source code
• Finnish: literaali — programming: value written in the source code
• French: littéral — programming: value written in the source code
• French: littéraux — programming: value written in the source code
• Greek: κυριολεκτικό (kyriolektikó) — programming: value written in the source code
• Polish: literał — programming: value written in the source code
• Portuguese: literal — programming: value written in the source code
• Portuguese: constante — programming: value written in the source code