Literalis

Literalis is a term that appears across several disciplines rather than representing a single, unified concept. It is derived from Latin literalis, meaning “of a letter” or “relating to letters,” itself from litera meaning “letter.” In modern usage, the word is often associated with literalness or the literal meaning of expressions, though its exact scope varies by field.

In linguistics and philosophy, literalis is used to denote the literal sense of an expression—the semantic content directly encoded by the words, excluding figurative or pragmatic extensions. It figures in discussions about truth-conditions, interpretation, and the distinction between what is said and what is meant, helping to separate surface meaning from inferred or contextual meaning.

In literary criticism, literalis can describe an approach that emphasizes the text’s surface level—the words, syntax, and stated content—without foregrounding allegory, symbolism, or other interpretive layers. In analytic frameworks, it supports contrasting literal interpretation with metaphorical or symbolic readings.

In some formal or computational contexts, the term appears as a descriptor for literal constants or tokens and is sometimes used more loosely to refer to non-figurative representations of data or ideas. However, literalis is not a standardized technical term across disciplines, and its precise meaning varies by author and field.