literal

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
literal/ˈlɪtərəl/

▶adjective

• 1 taking words in their usual or most basic sense; not figurative.

  ■ informal absolute: fifteen years of literal hell.

• 2 (of a translation) representing the exact words of the original text.

  ■ free from distortion.

• 3 lacking imagination.

• 4 of, in, or expressed by a letter of the alphabet.

▶noun Brit. Printing a misprint of a letter.

– derivatives
literality noun,
literalize (or literalise) verb,
literalness noun.

– origin ME: from OFr., or from late L. litteralis, from L. littera (see letter).