Where does “literal” come from?
Literal comes from Old French literal, from Late Latin litteralis, from Latin -alis, from Ancient Greek διφθέρα, from Old Latin leitera.
literal (English): Exactly as stated; read or understood without...
Definitions
- Exactly as stated; read or understood without...
Ancestry of “literal”, step by step
literal traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via Old French literal
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Old French | literal | literal exactly as stated |
| 2 | Latin | litteralis | literary; epistolary |
| 3 | Latin | littera | a letter of the alphabet; handwriting; letter,... |
| 4 | Latin | lītera | — |
| 5 | Old Latin | leitera | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂leyH- | to smear |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | leyh₂- | to die, disapear; to avoid, elude, decline,... |
via Middle English literal
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | literal | — |