a. Pertaining to, or characterized by alliteration. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To compose alliteratively; also, to constitute alliteration. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To employ or place so as to make alliteration. Skeat. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. ad + litera letter. See Letter. ] The repetition of the same letter at the beginning of two or more words immediately succeeding each other, or at short intervals; as in the following lines: - [ 1913 Webster ]

Behemoth, biggest born of earth, upheaved
His vastness. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Fly o'er waste fens and windy fields. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The recurrence of the same letter in accented parts of words is also called alliteration. Anglo-Saxon poetry is characterized by alliterative meter of this sort. Later poets also employed it. [ 1913 Webster ]

In a somer seson whan soft was the sonne,
I shope me in shroudes as I a shepe were. P. Plowman. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or characterized by, alliteration; as, alliterative poetry. -- Al*lit"er*a*tive*ly, adv. -- Al*lit"er*a*tive*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who alliterates. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. bis twice + littera letter. ] Consisting of two letters; as, a biliteral root of a Sanskrit verb. Sir W. Jones. -- n. A word, syllable, or root, consisting of two letters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The property or state of being biliteral. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. centilitre; centi (L. centum) + litre. See Liter. ] The hundredth part of a liter; a measure of volume or capacity equal to a little more than six tenths (0.6102) of a cubic inch, or one third (0.338) of a fluid ounce. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. décalitre; Gr. de`ka ten + F. litre. See Liter. ] A measure of capacity in the metric system; a cubic volume of ten liters, equal to about 610.24 cubic inches, that is, 2.642 wine gallons. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. décilitre; pref. déci- tenth (L. decimus) + litre. See Liter. ] A measure of capacity or volume in the metric system; one tenth of a liter, equal to 6.1022 cubic inches, or 3.38 fluid ounces. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Decaliter. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. duo two + E. literal. ] Consisting of two letters only; biliteral. Stuart. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. hectolitre, fr. Gr. &unr_; hundred + F. litre a liter. ] A measure of liquids, containing a hundred liters; equal to a tenth of a cubic meter, nearly 261/2 gallons of wine measure, or 22.0097 imperial gallons. As a dry measure, it contains ten decaliters, or about 25/6 Winchester bushels.

and , n. Same as Hectare, Hectogram, Hectoliter, and Hectometer. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Illiteracies [ From Illiterate. ] 1. The state of being illiterate, or uneducated; lack of learning, or knowledge; ignorance; specifically, inability to read and write; as, the illiteracy shown by the last census. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An instance of ignorance; a literary blunder. [ 1913 Webster ]

The many blunders and illiteracies of the first publishers of his [ Shakespeare's ] works. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Not literal. [ R. ] B. Dawson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. illiteratus: pref. il- not + literatus learned. See In- not, and Literal. ] Unable to read or write; ignorant of letters or books; unlettered; uninstructed; uneducated; as, an illiterate man, or people.

Syn. -- Ignorant; untaught; unlearned; unlettered; unscholary. See Ignorant.

-- Il*lit"er*ate*ly, adv. -- Il*lit"er*ate*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Lack of learning; illiteracy. [ R. ] Ayliffe. Southey. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ }, n. [ F. kilolitre. See Kilogram, and Liter. ] A measure of capacity equal to a cubic meter, or a thousand liters. It is equivalent to 35.315 cubic feet, and to 220.04 imperial gallons, or 264.18 American gallons of 321 cubic inches. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. [ See Legal, and Literary. ] Pertaining to the literature of law. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. State of being literate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Literal meaning. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. litéral, littéral, L. litteralis, literalis, fr. littera, litera, a letter. See Letter. ] 1. According to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase. [ 1913 Webster ]

It hath but one simple literal sense whose light the owls can not abide. Tyndale. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Following the letter or exact words; not free. [ 1913 Webster ]

A middle course between the rigor of literal translations and the liberty of paraphrasts. Hooker. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters. [ 1913 Webster ]

The literal notation of numbers was known to Europeans before the ciphers. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Giving a strict or literal construction; unimaginative; matter-of-fact; -- applied to persons. [ 1913 Webster ]

Literal contract (Law), a contract of which the whole evidence is given in writing. Bouvier. --
Literal equation (Math.), an equation in which known quantities are expressed either wholly or in part by means of letters; -- distinguished from a numerical equation. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. That which accords with the letter; a mode of interpreting literally; adherence to the letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Fine Arts) The tendency or disposition to represent objects faithfully, without abstraction, conventionalities, or idealization. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who adheres to the letter or exact word; an interpreter according to the letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. F. littéralité. ] The state or quality of being literal. Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act of literalizing; reduction to a literal meaning. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Literalized p. pr. & vb. n. Literalizing ] To make literal; to interpret or put in practice according to the strict meaning of the words; -- opposed to spiritualize; as, to literalize Scripture. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A literalist. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. 1. According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively; as, a man and his wife can not be literally one flesh. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. With close adherence to words; word by word. [ 1913 Webster ]

So wild and ungovernable a poet can not be translated literally. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being literal; literal import. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. litterarius, literarius, fr. littera, litera, a letter: cf. F. littéraire. See Letter. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. Of or pertaining to letters or literature; pertaining to learning or learned men; as, literary fame; a literary history; literary conversation. [ 1913 Webster ]

He has long outlived his century, the term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Versed in, or acquainted with, literature; occupied with literature as a profession; connected with literature or with men of letters; as, a literary man. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the literary as well as fashionable world. Mason. [ 1913 Webster ]

Literary property. (a) Property which consists in written or printed compositions. (b) The exclusive right of publication as recognized and limited by law. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. litteratus, literatus. See Letter. ] Instructed in learning, science, or literature; learned; lettered. [ 1913 Webster ]

The literate now chose their emperor, as the military chose theirs. Landor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One educated, but not having taken a university degree; especially, such a person who is prepared to take holy orders. [ Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A literary man. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. pl. [ See Literatus. ] Learned or literary men. See Literatus. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shakespearean commentators, and other literati. Craik. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖adv. [ LL., fr. L. littera, litera, letter. ] Letter for letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. littera, litera, letter. ] The act or process of representing by letters. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. litterator, literator. See Letter. ] 1. One who teaches the letters or elements of knowledge; a petty schoolmaster. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person devoted to the study of literary trifles, esp. trifles belonging to the literature of a former age. [ 1913 Webster ]

That class of subjects which are interesting to the regular literator or black-letter “ bibliomane, ” simply because they have once been interesting. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A learned person; a literatus. Sir W. Hamilton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. littérature, L. litteratura, literatura, learning, grammar, writing, fr. littera, litera, letter. See Letter. ] 1. Learning; acquaintance with letters or books. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The collective body of literary productions, embracing the entire results of knowledge and fancy preserved in writing; also, the whole body of literary productions or writings upon a given subject, or in reference to a particular science or branch of knowledge, or of a given country or period; as, the literature of Biblical criticism; the literature of chemistry. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The class of writings distinguished for beauty of style or expression, as poetry, essays, or history, in distinction from scientific treatises and works which contain positive knowledge; belles-lettres. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The occupation, profession, or business of doing literary work. Lamb.

Syn. -- Science; learning; erudition; belles-lettres. See Science. -- Literature, Learning, Erudition. Literature, in its widest sense, embraces all compositions in writing or print which preserve the results of observation, thought, or fancy; but those upon the positive sciences (mathematics, etc.) are usually excluded. It is often confined, however, to belles-lettres, or works of taste and sentiment, as poetry, eloquence, history, etc., excluding abstract discussions and mere erudition. A man of literature (in this narrowest sense) is one who is versed in belles-lettres; a man of learning excels in what is taught in the schools, and has a wide extent of knowledge, especially, in respect to the past; a man of erudition is one who is skilled in the more recondite branches of learned inquiry. [ 1913 Webster ]

The origin of all positive science and philosophy, as well as of all literature and art, in the forms in which they exist in civilized Europe, must be traced to the Greeks. Sir G. C. Lewis. [ 1913 Webster ]

Learning thy talent is, but mine is sense. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

Some gentlemen, abounding in their university erudition, fill their sermons with philosophical terms. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n.; pl. Literati [ L. litteratus, literatus. ] A learned man; a man acquainted with literature; -- chiefly used in the plural. [ 1913 Webster ]

Now we are to consider that our bright ideal of a literatus may chance to be maimed. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. litre, Gr. li`tra a silver coin. ] A measure of capacity in the metric system, being a cubic decimeter, equal to 61.022 cubic inches, or 2.113 American pints, or 1.76 English pints. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. millilitre; milli- milli- + litre. See Liter. ] A measure of capacity in the metric system, containing the thousandth part of a liter. It is very nearly equal to a cubic centimeter, and is equal to .061025 of an English cubic inch, or to .033815 of an American fluid ounce. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ F. myrialitre. See Myria-, and Liter. ] A metric measure of capacity, containing ten thousand liters. It is equal to 2641.7 wine gallons. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. Characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language.
Syn. -- common, vernacular, vulgar. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. not using a writing system; -- of societies, cultures, or tribes. [ Narrower terms: uncivilized (vs. civilized) ]
Syn. -- preliterate. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Obliterated p. pr. & vb. n. Obliterating. ] [ L. obliteratus, p. p. of obliterare to obliterate; ob (see Ob-) + litera, littera, letter. See Letter. ] 1. To erase or blot out; to efface; to render undecipherable, as a writing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To wear out; to remove or destroy utterly by any means; to render imperceptible; as, to obliterate ideas; to obliterate the monuments of antiquity. [ 1913 Webster ]

The harsh and bitter feelings of this or that experience are slowly obliterated. W. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Zool.) Scarcely distinct; -- applied to the markings of insects. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. 1. destroyed so thoroughly as to be unrecognizable or imperceptible.
Syn. -- wiped out, obliterate. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. made illegible or imperceptible by erasing or abrading away; -- of writing or surface designs on objects.
Syn. -- blotted out, obliterated. [ PJC ]

adj. making undecipherable or imperceptible; as, obliterating mists.
Syn. -- obscurant. [ WordNet 1.5 ]