Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

literal

/ˈlɪt(ə)ɹəl/ adjective, noun

Forms literals lit. litteral

  1. adjective Exactly as stated; read or understood without interpretation; according to the letter; not figurative or metaphorical; following the letter or exact words; not taking liberties; etymonic rather than idiomatic. “The literal translation of Spanish irse al otro barrio is "to go to the other neighbourhood" but it means "to die".”
  2. adjective Actual, real, physical.
  3. adjective (loosely) That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given text is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it.
  4. adjective (theology, specifically) Following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation.
  5. adjective (uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet); using literation. “a literal equation”
  6. adjective (of a person) Unimaginative; matter-of-fact; literal-minded.
  7. adjective (proscribed) Used nonliterally as an intensifier. See literally for usage notes. “Telemarketers are the literal worst.”
  8. noun (epigraphy, typography) A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.
  9. noun (logic) An atomic formula (consisting of a propositional variable) or its negation.
  10. noun (programming) A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.

Synonyms

verbatim word-for-word typo literal constant misprint erratum typographical error literal error actual genuine real

Antonyms

figurative free metaphorical nonliteral illiteral

Etymology

From Middle English literal, from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis or literalis (“of or pertaining to letters or to writing”), from Latin littera or litera (“a letter”). See letter.

Webster’s 1913

  1. adjective According to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase.
  2. adjective Following the letter or exact words; not free.
  3. noun Literal meaning. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.

Etymology [F. litéral, littéral, L. litteralis, literalis, fr. littera, litera, a letter. See Letter.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “literal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details

Sanskrit

Sanskrit dictionary entries whose meaning includes “literal” (best matches first).

All 10 Sanskrit matches →