Literal, a.
Etymology: [F. litéral, littéral, 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.
1 other Webster entry under this spelling
Literal, n.
Literal meaning. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for literal; he lists it under verbal.
Where he writes about it:
Oral (L. os, the mouth) signifies uttered through the mouth or (in common phrase) by word of mouth; verbal (L. verbum, a word) signifies of, pertaining to, or connected with words, especially with words as distinguished from the ideas they convey; vocal (L. vox, the voice) signifies of or pertaining to the voice, uttered or modulated by the voice, and especially uttered with or sounding with full, resonant voice; literal (L. litera, a letter) signifies consisting of or expressed by letters, or according to the letter, in the broader sense of the exact meaning or requirement of the words used; what is called "the letter of the law" is its literal meaning without going behind what is expressed by the letters on the page. — from verbal
A verbal translation may be oral or written, so that it is word for word; a literal translation follows the construction and idiom of the original as well as the words; a literal translation is more than one that is merely verbal; both verbal and literal are opposed to free. — from verbal