lit ‧ e ‧ ral /ˈlɪt ə rəl/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: Medieval Latin literalis , from Latin littera ; ⇨ ↑ letter 1 ]
1 . the literal meaning of a word or expression is its basic or original meaning ⇨ figurative
literal meaning/sense/interpretation etc
A trade war is not a war in the literal sense.
2 . literal translation a translation that translates each word exactly instead of giving the general meaning in a more natural way OPP free
3 . literal-minded not showing much imagination
—literalness noun [uncountable]