literal

«literal» in Mova's school dictionary: Taking words in their most basic, exact meaning, not as a… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

adjective (literal)

meaning for a pupil

1) Taking words in their most basic, exact meaning, not as a joke or figure of speech. tree →

2) Translated word for word. tree →

3) (informal) Used for real, not exaggerated. tree →

sense in the lessons

In English lessons: the literal meaning of "it's raining cats and dogs" would be animals falling from the sky; its real (figurative) meaning is heavy rain. In maths, read problems literally and exactly. Phrases: literal meaning, take something literally, literal translation.

examples

• The literal meaning of "break a leg" is to snap your leg, but it means good luck. tree →
• Don't be so literal — it was a joke! tree →
• A literal translation can sound strange in English. tree →
• She took my words literally and really jumped in the lake. tree →
• In a literal sense, "breakfast" means breaking a fast. tree →
• The literal truth is that we lost five to nil. tree →
• The stories are not literal, or word by word translations, but have been altered in many ways to make them suitable for children. tree →

note

Adjective; adverb: literally. Opposite: figurative (idioms, metaphors). Trap: people often say "literally" for emphasis when it is not literal ("I literally died laughing") — this is informal. Do not confuse with "literary" (to do with books and literature) or "littoral" (by the shore).

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «literal» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.