■ adjective
1》 taking words in their usual or most basic sense; not figurative.
↘ informal absolute: fifteen years of ~ hell.
2》 (of a translation) representing the exact words of the original text.
↘free from distortion.
3》 lacking imagination.
4》 of, in, or expressed by a letter of the alphabet.
■ noun Brit. Printing a misprint of a letter.
Derivatives
~ity noun
~ize or ~ise verb
~ness noun
Origin
ME: from OFr., or from late L. litteralis , from L. littera (see letter ).