Lit'er-al1, a.
a. [Fr. litéral, littéral, Pr. litteral, Sp. & Pg. literal, It. litterale, letterale, Lat. literalis, litteralis, from litera, littera, a letter.]
Sense 1. According to the letter; primitive; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase.
Sense 2. Following the letter or exact words; not free; as, a literal translation.
Sense 3. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.
The literal notation of numbers was known to Europeans before the ciphers. Johnson.
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. Math. Dict.