literal

Etymology

It is partly borrowed from Middle French literal and partly borrowed from Late Latin litterālis (“of letters or writing”),^[2][3][4][5] from littera (“letter of the alphabet”),^[3][4][6] plural litterae (“a letter, piece of writing”),^[7] the word behind English letter.^[5][8] Merriam-Webster derives it through Medieval Latin litteralis.^[7] The French word meant "of literature" from the start of the 14th century, and by the late 14th century "of the letter of a text", taking its words in their primary meaning without allegory.^[2] The Anglo-Norman Dictionary records it, in the sense "exact, to the letter", from 1410–15.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to the letters of the alphabet, or expressed in letters: before 1398, in John Trevisa's translation of Bartholomaeus Anglicus.^[2][4] Barnhart and Etymonline also find it before 1397, in the Wycliffe Bible, in the theological sense "not figurative or allegorical", which the OED dates to about 1443.^[4][3][2]

Semantic evolution

The word's main history lies in Bible interpretation: the literal sense of Scripture, obtained by taking the words in their ordinary meaning, was opposed to its mystical or allegorical senses.^[3][2][10] From there it came to mean the exact sense of the actual wording of a passage, or the primary or etymological sense of a word (1597),^[2][3] and following the original word for word, as in a literal translation, from 1599.^[4][3] Of a person or mind, apt to take words literally and miss metaphor or irony, it is recorded from 1633,^[2] and literal-minded from 1791.^[3] From 1624 it also meant "real, actual, without exaggeration".^[2] Johnson (1755) gave the senses "according to the primitive meaning, not figurative" and "following the letter, or exact words".^[11] The older link with letters survives in mathematics, where an expression using letters for quantities has been literal since 1673,^[2] and in the noun, a misprint of a letter, recorded from 1622.^[7] Senses meaning "of literature" (about 1450) and "of letters or epistles" (1650) are obsolete.^[2]

Timeline

• a1397 – not figurative or allegorical, in the Wycliffe Bible.^[4]
• a1398 – relating to the letters of the alphabet.^[2][4]
• c1443 – of the sense of a sacred text, obtained by taking its words in their ordinary meaning.^[2]
• c1450 – literary (obsolete by 1604).^[2]
• 1597 – of the primary or etymological sense of a word.^[2]
• 1599 – word for word, of a translation.^[4][3]
• 1622 – noun, a misprint.^[7]
• 1624 – real, actual, without exaggeration.^[2]
• 1633 – of a person, apt to take words literally.^[2]
• 1673 – in mathematics, using letters for quantities.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Taking words in their usual or most basic sense, without metaphor, allegory or exaggeration: The literal meaning of the place name is "white hill".
2. Following the original word for word: a literal translation of the poem.
3. Real, actual; exactly as described, without exaggeration.
4. Of a person, unimaginative or prosaic; inclined to take what is said at face value.
5. Of or expressed by letters of the alphabet; in mathematics, using letters for numbers or coefficients.

Noun

1. (chiefly British, printing) A misprint or error of a letter in writing or typesetting.

Word family

• literalness
• literality
• unliteral
• biliteral
• literalism
• literalize
• literally
• literal-minded

Related words

• letter
• literacy
• literary
• literate
• literature
• littoral

Usage notes

The adverb literally (1530s) has long been used as an intensifier, meaning "virtually" or "in effect", a use Etymonline traces back to the late 17th century^[3] and Dictionary.com to the early 19th;^[12] it is widely criticized because it contradicts the word's sense "actually, without exaggeration".^[12][3][13] Collins advises avoiding it in formal writing.^[13] Weekley already noted in 1921 that literally was often used by the excited in the opposite of its real meaning.^[14] Dictionary.com lists literal and littoral as easily confused.^[12]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
5. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray