Constant vs. Literal — What's the Difference?

Not changing or varying; continuous

Conforming or limited to the simplest, nonfigurative, or most obvious meaning of a word or words.

Happening regularly or repeatedly; continual

Word for word; verbatim

Unchanging in nature, value, or extent; invariable

Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic

Steadfast in purpose, loyalty, or affection; faithful

Consisting of, using, or expressed by letters

Something that is unchanging or invariable.

A letter or symbol that stands for itself as opposed to a feature, function, or entity associated with it in a programming language

A quantity assumed to have a fixed value in a specified mathematical context.

Exactly as stated; read or understood without additional interpretation; according to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical, and etymonic rather than idiomatic.

An experimental or theoretical condition, factor, or quantity that does not vary or that is regarded as invariant in specified circumstances.

Following the letter or exact words; not free; not taking liberties

Unchanged through time or space; permanent.

(theology) (broadly) That which generally assumes that the plainest reading of a given scripture is correct but which allows for metaphor where context indicates it; (specifically) following the historical-grammatical method of biblical interpretation

Consistently recurring over time; persistent.

(uncommon) Consisting of, or expressed by, letters (of an alphabet)

Steady in purpose, action, feeling, etc.

(of a person) Unimaginative; matter-of-fact

Firm; solid; not fluid.

(proscribed) Used non-literally as an intensifier; see literally for usage notes.

(obsolete) Consistent; logical.

A misprint (or occasionally a scribal error) that affects a letter.

Bounded above by a constant.

(programming) A value, as opposed to an identifier, written into the source code of a computer program.

That which is permanent or invariable.

(logic) A propositional variable or the negation of a propositional variable. ^Wp

(algebra) A quantity that remains at a fixed value throughout a given discussion.

According to the letter or verbal expression; real; not figurative or metaphorical; as, the literal meaning of a phrase.

(science) Any property of an experiment, determined numerically, that does not change under given circumstances.

Following the letter or exact words; not free.

(computing) An identifier that is bound to an invariant value; a fixed value given a name to aid in readability of source code.

Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.

Firm; solid; fixed; immovable; - opposed to fluid.

Giving a strict or literal construction; unimaginative; matter-of-fact; - applied to persons.

Not liable, or given, to change; permanent; regular; continuous; continually recurring; steadfast; faithful; not fickle. Opposite of changeable and variable.

Literal meaning.

Remaining unchanged or invariable, as a quantity, force, law, etc.

A mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind

Consistent; logical.

Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something;

That which is not subject to change; that which is invariable.

Without interpretation or embellishment;

A quantity that does not change its value; - used in countradistinction to variable.

Limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text;

A number whose value, when ascertained (as by observation) and substituted in a general mathematical formula expressing an astronomical law, completely determines that law and enables predictions to be made of its effect in particular cases.

Lacking stylistic embellishment;

A number expressing some property or condition of a substance or of an instrument of precision; as, the dielectric constant of quartz; the collimation constant of a transit instrument.

Of the clearest kind; usually used for emphasis;

A data structure that does not change during the course of execution of a program. It may be a number, a string, or a more complex data structure; - contrasted with variable.

(of a translation) corresponding word for word with the original;

A quantity that does not vary

A number representing a quantity assumed to have a fixed value in a specified mathematical context;

Persistent in occurrence and unvarying in nature;

Continually recurring or continuing without interruption;

Steadfast in purpose or devotion or affection;

Uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing;