unliteralnessn.
/(ˌ)ʌnˈlɪt(ə)rəlnəs/, /(ˌ)ʌnˈlɪt(ə)rl̩nəs/, U.S. /ˌənˈlɪdərəlnəs/, /ˌənˈlɪtrəlnəs/ The quality, attribute, or fact of being unliteral.
ΚΠ
1836 J. H. Newman Let. in H. P. Liddon et al. Life E. B. Pusey (1893) I. xvii. 422 I..do not like diffusive translations; unliteralness is no more diffusive than the contrary.
1859 Southern Presbyterian Rev. 11 i. iv. 95 A bold step towards the absolute unliteralness and metaphorical speculations of Straus and Feuerbach.
1900 Amer. Eccl. Rev. Jan. 1 Having paid this tribute to the translator, we feel that we need hardly add the critical charge of unliteralness in the English rendering.
1998 Times (Nexis) 20 Mar. Programmes made by people..whose creativity is set free by the wonderful unliteralness of radio.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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