Emily Dickinson Lexicon
Definition for LIT'ER-AL-LY
LIT'ER-AL-LY, adv.
- According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively. A man and his wife can not be literally one flesh.
- With close adherence to words; word by word. So wild and ungovernable a poet can not be translated literally. – Dryden.
Return to page 62 of the letter “L”.