lit.

Noun

literature (usually uncountable, plural literatures)

1. (usually) The body of all written works.
2. (usually) The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group, or culture.
   • He’s studying English literature at university.
3. (usually, usually preceded by the) All the papers, treatises, etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject.
   • The obvious question to ask at this point is: ‘Why posit the existence of a set of Thematic Relations (THEME, AGENT, INSTRUMENT, etc.) distinct from constituent structure relations?ʼ The answer given in the relevant literature is that a variety of linguistic phenomena can be accounted for in a more...1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 7, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 373
4. (usually) Written fiction of a high standard.
   • However, even “literary” science fiction rarely qualifies as literature, because it treats characters as sets of traits rather than as fully realized human beings with unique life stories.2008, Adam Cadre

   Synonyms:

   literary fiction

5. (obsolete, usually) Literacy; ability to read and write.
   • They all assumed to be mighty rakish and knowing, they were not very tidy in their private dresses, they were not at all orderly in their domestic arrangements, and the combined literature of the whole company would have produced but a poor letter on any subject.1854, Charles Dickens, Hard Times: A Novel

Adjective

literal (comparative more literal, superlative most literal)

1. Exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation; according to the letter; not figurative or metaphorical; following the letter or exact words; not taking liberties; etymonic rather than idiomatic.
   • The literal translation of Spanish irse al otro barrio is "to go to the other neighbourhood" but it means "to die".

   Synonyms:

   verbatim, word-for-word

2. Actual, real, physical.
   • Mechanically, operating this hybrid vehicle is sort of a cross between driving a car and taming an animal, which means the movie treats the audience to the sight of a man (pretending to be a teenager) driving a literal monster truck in a field next to a woman (also pretending to be a teenager)...2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A literal monster truck is far from the stupidest thing about Monster Trucks”, in The Onion AV Club
3. (broadly, hermeneutics) That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given text is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it.
4. (specifically, hermeneutics) Following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.
   • It is most important to distinguish literalistic from literal interpretation. [...] ‘Literalistic’ interpretation is like word-for-word translation that yields the verbally exact or ‘formally equivalent’ versions but also runs the risk of overlooking the main (illocutionary) point. Literal...1998, Kevin Vanhoozer, “6. Redeeming the Text: The Rationality of Literary Acts”, in Is There a Meaning in This Text?, page 311
5. (uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet); using literation.
   • a literal equation
6. Unimaginative; matter-of-fact; literal-minded.

See all 10 meanings of literal