Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Literal \Lit"er*al\, n.
   Literal meaning. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.

Literal \Lit"er*al\, a. [F. lit['e]ral, litt['e]ral, L.
   litteralis, literalis, fr. littera, litera, a letter. See
   {Letter}.]
   1. According to the letter or verbal expression; real; not
      figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a
      phrase.

            It hath but one simple literal sense whose light the
            owls can not abide.                   --Tyndale.

   2. Following the letter or exact words; not free.

            A middle course between the rigor of literal
            translations and the liberty of paraphrasts.
                                                  --Hooker.

   3. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.

            The literal notation of numbers was known to
            Europeans before the ciphers.         --Johnson.

   4. Giving a strict or literal construction; unimaginative;
      matter-of fast; -- applied to persons.

   {Literal contract} (Law), 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.

Source : WordNet®

literal
     adj 1: being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of
            something; "her actual motive"; "a literal solitude
            like a desert"- G.K.Chesterton; "a genuine dilemma"
            [syn: {actual}, {genuine}, {real}]
     2: without interpretation or embellishment; "a literal
        translation of the scene before him"
     3: limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text; "a
        literal translation" [ant: {figurative}]
     4: lacking stylistic embellishment; "a literal description";
        "wrote good but plain prose"; "a plain unadorned account
        of the coronation"; "a forthright unembellished style"
        [syn: {plain}, {unembellished}]
     5: of the clearest kind; usually used for emphasis; "it's the
        literal truth"; "a matter of investment, pure and simple"
        [syn: {pure and simple}]
     6: (of a translation) corresponding word for word with the
        original; "literal translation of the article"; "an
        awkward word-for-word translation" [syn: {word-for-word}]

literal
     n : a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical
         failures of some kind [syn: {misprint}, {erratum}, {typographical
         error}, {typo}, {literal error}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

literal
     
         A constant made available to a process, by
        inclusion in the executable text.  Most modern systems do not
        allow texts to modify themselves during execution, so literals
        are indeed constant; their value is written at compile-time
        and is read-only at run time.
     
        In contrast, values placed in variables or files and accessed
        by the process via a symbolic name, can be changed during
        execution.  This may be an asset.  For example, messages can
        be given in a choice of languages by placing the translation
        in a file.
     
        Literals are used when such modification is not desired.  The
        name of the file mentioned above (not its content), or a
        physical constant such as 3.14159, might be coded as a
        literal.  Literals can be accessed quickly, a potential
        advantage of their use.
     
        (1996-01-23)