| 释义 |
literaladj.n. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French literal; Latin litteralis. Etymology: < (i) Middle French literal, litteral, French littéral of or relating to literature (beginning of the 14th cent.), of or relating to the ‘letter’ of a text, obtained by taking words and passages in their primary or usual meaning, without regard to any underlying significance, mysticism, or allegory (late 14th cent.), of, relating to, or designating the etymological or primary sense of a word, or the exact sense expressed by the actual wording of a phrase or passage (c1450), (of a person) apt to take words literally (1561 in Calvin), and its etymon (ii) post-classical Latin litteralis (also literalis) relating to letters (3rd cent.), relating to books or literature, relating to correspondence (5th cent.), learned (9th cent.), literal, as opposed to allegorical (10th cent.), written (late 10th or early 11th cent.), (of a (scriptural) law) that is, or is intended to be, interpreted literally or to the letter (1559 in the passage translated in quot. 1561 at sense A. 5b) < classical Latin littera letter n.1 + -ālis -al suffix1. Compare Catalan literal (14th cent.), Spanish literal (second half of the 14th cent. in literalmente literally), Portuguese literal (16th cent.; 15th cent. as †leteral ), Italian letterale (1640; a1308 as †litterale ). The word shows partial semantic overlap with later literary adj.Several senses of the English word are not paralleled in French until later: ‘(of a translation) verbally exact’ (1694), ‘(of a quantity, equation, etc.) expressed in the form of a letter or letters’ (a1734). The β. forms are influenced by letter n.1 A. adj. I. Of or relating to a letter or letters. 1. society > communication > writing > written character > [adjective] society > communication > writing > state of having been written > [adjective] a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus (BL Add. 27944) (1975) I. v. xvii. 199 Þe lippis be..to schape þe voys of literal [a1425 Morgan litteral] speche. a1500 (Trin. Cambr.) l. 6605 This warke on me toke..to..make; And so haue I don, after myne entent, With litterall carectes for your sake..in sable lines blake. 1621 H. Elsynge (1870) 15 Whether we shoulde expecte a literall acknowledgment of the charge, or to hear a personall confession of the same. 1637 J. Taylor sig. B4 Sack..is contained within the litterall letters..of its owne name, which is..a Cask. 1751 N. Hooke (ed. 2) I. i. i. 6 The art of expressing their thoughts by literal characters. 1770 P. Luckombe 458 Literal characters may be divided..into Greek characters, Hebrew characters, &c. 1802 tr. M. Pothier I. 250 Literal proof, as well as oral, may be destroyed by contrary proof. 1882 G. D. Lind 17 If you were to name each letter distinctly as d-a-u-g-h-t-e-r, that would be oral and literal spelling... If you were to vocalize each sound..that would be phonic spelling. 1911 Nov. 383 Alphabetic or literal writing is simply the written expression of the sound, and only indirectly expresses the idea. 2004 T. Demeter 8 Nyíri's argument appeals to a distinction..between oral and literal, or spoken and written. society > leisure > the arts > literature > poetry > versification > alliteration > [adjective] 1584 King James VI & I sig. M Let all your verse be Literall, sa far as may be... Be Literall I meane, that the maist pairt of ȝour lyne, sall rynne vpon a letter, as this tumbling lyne rynnis vpon F. 1632 W. Lithgow viii. 348 I wrot this literal Distich: Glance, Glorious Geneue, Gospell-Guiding Gem; Great God Gouerne, Good Geneues Ghostly Game. society > communication > writing > written character > [adjective] > affecting a letter 1591 R. Rabbards in Note to Rdr. sig. *4v If anie literall fault be past, amend it with your pens. 1699 R. Bentley (new ed.) 112 'Twas a literal fault in that Copy of him that Casaubon used. 1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Introd. sig. dv I know of none but literal mistakes, some of which are corrected in the table of Errata. 1770 P. Luckombe 441 What is chiefly required of a Corrector, besides espying literal faults, is to Spell and Point. 1841–8 F. Myers II. iii. viii. 26 There are just the same kind of literal imperfections in them [sc. the books of the Bible] that there are in all others. 1880 25 Sept. 398/1 It is..vexatious that, through the inattention of the printers, any literal errors should have crept into it. 1954 J. D. Wilson in J. Garrett 255 My suggestion is that both these were due to..the F proof-reader's miscorrection of a ‘literal’ misprint by the careless compositor. 1999 C. Andrews iii. 167 A literal error in the original edition of the poem transformed the nonce-word omniumnaire..into onmiunmaire. society > leisure > the arts > literature > [adjective] c1450 tr. G. Boccaccio (1924) l. 1452 By litrale studye in latinyte, Here folowyth oon most of excellence. ?c1500 (Digby) l. 658 Thys lytyll pagent thus conclud we As we can, lackyng lytturall scyens. 1591 G. Fletcher xiii. f. 48 They excell in no kinde of common arte, much lesse in any learning, or litterall kinde of knowledge. 1604 T. Wright (new ed.) iii. iv. 102 If they be delighted in musicke they present them with instruments,..if in studie with literall labours. society > communication > correspondence > letter > [adjective] 1650 J. Howell Addit. Lett. ii. 4 in (ed. 2) To hold this litterall correspondence I desire but the parings of your time,..let our Letters be as Eccho's. a1657 R. Loveday (1663) 168 To..shorten the distance betwixt us, by a literal intercourse. 1698 J. Colbatch 84 Be pleased to direct a Letter to me..I beg a Literal Correspondence. 1702 in D. Jones 549/1 You give me a touch of my failings in point of literal Correspondence with you. 1785 July 80 She was eminently qualified for..communicating her ideas either by oral or literal intercourse. Her letters, therefore [etc.]. 1819 J. Biddle Let. 19 May in 5 June 248/1 As the sudden departure of the Ontario..had excited various rumors, the literal correspondence between the admiral and captain Biddle, is published for the satisfaction of all. the world > relative properties > number > mathematical notation or symbol > [adjective] > designated by letters 1673 J. Kersey I. i. i. 2 Algebra is by late Writers divided into two kinds; to wit, Numeral, and Literal, (or Specious). 1755 S. Johnson (at cited word) The literal notation of numbers was known to Europeans before the cyphers. 1797 I. 399/2 The literal calculus and the algebraic rules of Harriot. 1846 28 Mar. 234/1 Suppose now, that instead of the given numbers 3, 6, 9, we had the general literal symbols, a, b, c of any numbers whatever. 1918 C. I. Palmer (ed. 2) III. i. 10 A literal algebraic expression has a definite value depending upon the values given the letters. 1998 E. Maor (2002) iv. 50 The gradual replacement of the cumbersome verbal algebra of medieval mathematics with concise, symbolic statements—a literal algebra. II. Free from metaphor, allegory, etc. 5. society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > text > criticism, interpretation > [adjective] > literal c1443 R. Pecock (1927) 461 (MED) In kynde of þe firste maters, we schulen ȝeue wel nyȝe ful credence to þe precise literal pretencioun of holi writt. a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. (Harl. 1666) in (1850) xii. 43 Holy scripture hath iiij. vndirstondingis; literal, allegorik, moral, and anagogik. a1450 (a1397) Prol. Old Test. (Harl. 1666) in (1850) xii. 43 To the literal vndirstonding it [sc. Jerusalem] singnefieth an erthly citee..to allegorie it singnefieth hooly chirche..to moral vndirstondinge it singnefieth a cristen soule. a1464 J. Capgrave (Cambr. Gg.4.12) (1983) 84 Not only with litteral teching, but with many mysti exposiciones. 1502 tr. (de Worde) ii. ix. sig. l.ii v Vnto the lyterall sens, by this commaundement is pryncypally defended manslaughter. 1528 W. Tyndale f. cxxixv Thou shalt vnderstonde therfore yt the scripture hath but one sence which is ye literall sence. 1597 R. Hooker v. lix. 130 Where a litterall construction will stand, the farthest from the letter is commonly the worst. 1664 H. More 433 The Prophets predicting things of them in reference to the first Completion which is Literal. a1761 W. Law (1809) 114 All these texts, which a learning, merely literal, has thus mistaken, do only prove [etc.]. 1788 E. Gibbon V. 248 But the sounder and more consistent party adhere, without shame, to the literal interpretation of the Koran. 1845 Aug. 185 Origen assumed, that Scripture..requires a..triple interpretation—viz., the literal or grammatical, the spiritual, and the mystical. 1871 E. B. Tylor I. 374 It is a surprising instance of this tendency to concretism, that among..the Buddhists, the most obviously moral beast-fables have become literal incidents of sacred history. 1927 C. H. Haskins iii. 79 The gloss and commentary..overlaid the literal sense with a mass of conventional and universally accepted exegesis. 1971 18 Jan. 24/2 [Speaking] at my father's Orthodox schul... I indicated I had no use for a literal interpretation of the Bible... I found it hard to believe that Joshua made the sun stand still. 1991 A. Nichols III. xi. 142 Nowadays, as by and large in the Middle Ages, the literal sense is regarded as the sense the author intended and expressed in language. 2007 18 May 24/3 The world was revealing itself to be ancient, and not the brief scenario painted by a literal reading of Genesis. society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > Testament > Old Testament > [adjective] > Mosaic dispensation > literal 1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin v. f. 30v The couenaunt of God made with the auncient people, was voyde, bicause it was only literall [L. literale]. 1605 W. Camden 151 Moses received of God a literal Law..to be imparted to all, and another Mystical. 1777 5 435/1 We do not approve of the Author's restricting the opinions of Judges..to the extremum jus of literal Law. They ought to be indulged in a liberty of construing the letter of an Act according to the spirit of its design. 1827 J. D. Michaelis 38 The Jews had no literal law from Moses, prohibiting the body of a crucified person..from being left upon the cross. 1983 E. P. Sanders (1989) iii. 118 They did not observe the literal law, but they observed its ‘real’ intent. the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > literal meaning > [adjective] 1597 G. Harvey Trimming T. Nashe in (1885) III. 36 I giue not euery word their litteral sence. 1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac III. 12 Never eares were more attentive..than those of our family when I read your Letter before them: they were not satisfied to have onely a literall interpretation. 1676 E. Stillingfleet & Bp. G. Burnet 31 Many large and high expressions, which cannot bear a literal meaning. 1718 No. 35. 2 If you mention the Golden Age to him, he understands it in a literal sense. 1763 Ld. Chesterfield 18 Dec. (1932) (modernized text) VI. 2568 I see very few people; and, in the literal sense of the word, I hear nothing. 1809–10 S. T. Coleridge (1865) 156 Advocates for reform in the literal sense of the word. 1874 C. Kingsley in May 479/2 In painting, poetry, music..lies recreation, in the true and literal sense of that word, namely, the recreating and mending of the exhausted mind. 1992 21 Feb. 5/2 The expression ‘sexually active’... has lost its literal meaning and is generally understood to refer only to people who are sexually active outside marriage. 2000 A. Maupin (2001) i. 7 My authorial voice deserted me in the most literal way possible—in the midst of a recording session. the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of imagination > lack of imagination > [adjective] 1633 J. Shirley ii. i. sig. D2v Fow. Not serve you? Why dee thinke a man cannot love and serve too. Penel. Not one serve two, well. Fow. You are too literall. 1710 J. Swift Disc. Mech. Operat. Spirit in (ed. 5) 337 A sort of Modern Authors, who have too literal an understanding. 1778 F. Burney III. xxi. 243 ‘I fancy you will find no person..call going about a few places in a morning seeing Bath.’ ‘Mayhap, then,’ said the literal Captain, ‘you think we should see it better by going about at midnight?’ 1837 H. Martineau III. 78 Their tendency..to something of the literal dulness which Charles Lamb complains of in relation to the Scotch. 1858 O. W. Holmes iii. 57 One man who is a little too literal can spoil the talk of a whole tableful of men of esprit. 1883 M. Oliphant I. v. 66 ‘I should not have let the Queen come in, to disturb you.’‘The Queen..would never want to come,’ said Mrs. John, who was very literal. 1953 A. Hosain 150 He felt irritated by her literal mind. 1998 Oct. 94/1 ‘I was joking,’ she said. ‘You're so literal—that's tragic.’ society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > plainness > [adjective] > literal 1690 T. Burnet iv. i. 131 Some men..say they [sc. the Prophets] are to be understood in a figurate and allegorical sence... To avoid all shuffling..let us appeal to S. Peter, who uses a plain literal style. 1736 Bp. J. Butler i. iii. 62 They are not to be taken, as intended for a literal Delineation of what is in Fact the particular Scheme of the Universe. 1846 23 May 200/1 The bare and literal style of Cowper. 1887 M. Morris iv. 66 His own despatch, which is singularly literal and straightforward. 1921 P. P. Claxton & J. McGinniss xii. 240 When you say that a company employs fifty men, you use literal language; but if you say that it employs fifty hands, you use figurative language. 2003 F. Palmeri iii. 119 The discourse..is divided between an elaborately figurative and metaphysical style on the one hand and a reductively literal style on the other. 6. the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > literal meaning > [adjective] > applied to what follows 1624 T. Higgons i. 64 Some..offences, which went before in litterall Babylon, and now follow after in Papall Rome. 1646 Sir T. Browne i. iii. 11 The literall and downe-right adorement of Cats, Lizards, and Beetles. View more context for this quotation 1659 J. Pearson vi. 549 When we say Christ ascended, we understand a literall and locall ascent..of his humanity. 1730 J. Robertson xi. 190 Some make Rome literal to be mystical Babylon. 1836 T. Merritt i. 30 The passage in John refers to a literal resurrection, that in Ezekiel to a figurative resurrection. 1870 E. A. Freeman (ed. 2) I. ii. 18 The literal extirpation of a nation is an impossibility. 1908 ‘G. A. Birmingham’ 62 Do you suppose that the Prime Minister, when he thinks he'll have to go to war with Germany, tells the literal truth? 1988 A. N. Wilson iv. 89 It is not safe to take Tolstoy's diaries as a literal record of events. 2008 Winter 67 By ‘damned’ I mean simply utterly separated from God, and not condemned to a literal hell. the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > utter or absolute 1857 Nov. 332/1 We hurried on to Baden Baden. Let no American send his son thither if he have any penchant for the card-table or the roulette. It is a literal hell. 1902 July 79/1 The vexed domestic servant problem was surely becoming a literal nightmare. 1911 G. B. Shaw Getting Married Pref. in 186 We shall in a very literal sense empty the baby out with the bath by abolishing an institution which needs nothing more than a little..rationalizing to make it..useful. 1964 Feb. 18/2 His mind was a literal warehouse of facts, his wit quick and sharp. 1995 J. M. Glass v. 92 Maureen's body was a literal battleground; when she gave up her cache of razor blades to a departing therapist, she turned to laxatives. 2008 (Nexis) 19 May What you are seeing nationally is the same thing we are seeing in Oregon: a literal collapse of the Republican brand. 7. the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > truthfulness, veracity > [adjective] > following original exactly the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > explanation, exposition > translation > [adjective] > word for word a1627 T. Middleton & W. Rowley (1656) i. 6 Pray you repeat the literall words expresly. 1693 J. Dryden Disc. conc. Satire in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal p. lii Not a Literal Translation, but a kind of Paraphrase. a1753 R. Newton in tr. Theophrastus (1754) p. viii I do not say it is necessary, that all Greek Authors should be attended with versions so literal. 1799 P. Comrie 12 I may add another testimony, by giving a literal translation of the above lines. 1853 E. K. Kane (1856) ix. 67 This may excuse a literal transcript from my diary. 1985 E. Rummel 134 He paid close attention to purity of speech, departing from a literal version to satisfy the demands of Latin idiom. 1992 7 15/1 Text corpora derived from speech..will be literal transcriptions of spoken language. 2001 Apr. 18/2 Reiki is a Japanese word that, in so far as literal translations of Japanese words are possible, means Universal Life-Force Energy. 1805 T. Hodson & J. Dougall iv. iv. ix. 190 Few are able to perceive the beauties of a grand and sublime composition; but many are greatly delighted with a literal representation of nature. 1855 19 May 5/3 (advt.) Photographic likenesses.., which, when skilfully tinted, may be regarded as a happy medium between the literal depiction of Nature and the ideal of cultivated Art. 1873 54 This painting is a characteristic representation of the scenery of Colorado, without being in all respects a literal view. 1910 M. Cox ii. 50 That probing expression, slightly deflected, of the artist who is confining himself to a literal depiction of his own likeness. 1966 6 Mar. v. 6/2 He [sc. Matisse] played a part in liberating painting from too close an adherence to visual reality, too literal a rendering of volumes, and too scrupulous a fidelity to perspective. 2006 W. Baron vii. 44/2 Sickert's picture is almost certainly not a literal translation of a casually perceived glimpse from nature. It is an artificially composite work. B. n.the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > inaccuracy, inexactness > incorrectness of language > [noun] > error in written mode > misprint of letter 1622 R. Hawkins sig. Yv Errata sic corrige... The litteralls are commended to favour. 1702 E. Mores 172 Some other Literals may have escaped the Press. 1763 62 There is not much to alter, as I have corrected the literals. 1825 C. F. Partington 243 That both [sc. the proof and the copy] may be put into the hands of the reader for the purpose of clearing it from the most glaring literals. 1834 25 Jan. 696/2 The ‘reader’ at the printing office was much too delighted..to attend to ‘literals’, and let the word ‘exhibited’ stand..in place of attributed. 1880 xxx. 6 We noticed rather a large number of literals. 1902 J. H. Harris ii. 12 Literals are easily corrected; it is over-running which takes time and vexes the compositor's soul. 2000 S. Fallon & M. Rothschild (Lonely Planet Guide) 230 The book is..filled with typos, literals and misspellings. the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > meaning > meaning of linguistic unit > literal meaning > [noun] > instance of a1631 J. Donne (1958) IX. 214 S. Gregory hath..given us many Morals, (as he cals them) upon this Booke [sc. Job], but, truly, not many Literals, for..he bends all the sufferings of Iob figuratively, mystically upon Christ. 1646 Sir T. Browne iv. x. 204 How dangerous it is in sensible things to use metaphoricall expressions unto the people, and what absurd conceits they will swallow in their literals . View more context for this quotation 1702 W. Freke ii. 34 A literal Dream may and does often end allegorically..as, You dream that..your Servant meets you walking in the Hall;..by the second rule of Literals above, so his meeting you walking there is all Allegory. 1826 Nov. 665/1 American Calvinists in general have been indignant at this palpable departure from the literals of their creed. society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > literal 1956 51/3 The Autocoder searches its lists of already-stored literals, and unless the present one is a repeat assigns a new location for it. 1971 L. Coddington ii. 16 Literals are: 777, which is a numeric literal..and alpha~numeric literals (YES, NO, SMITH, ZZZZ) which consist of letters. 1990 7 202 Even operands which do not require any slave access, such as literals are passed through the slave. 2007 M. Lutz (ed. 3) v. 92 Python supports the usual numeric types (integers and floating points), as well as literals for creating numbers and expressions for processing them. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022). <  adj.n.a1398 |
