Literal vs. Literature — What's the Difference?

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

Literature broadly is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include oral literature, much of which has been transcribed.

Word for word; verbatim

Written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit

Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic

The body of written works of a language, period, or culture.

Consisting of, using, or expressed by letters

Imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value

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

The art or occupation of a literary writer.

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.

The body of written work produced by scholars or researchers in a given field

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

Printed material

(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

(Music) All the compositions of a certain kind or for a specific instrument or ensemble

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

The body of all written works.

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

The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group, or culture.

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

(usually preceded by the) All the papers, treatises, etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject.

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

Written fiction of a high standard.

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

Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.

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

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.

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

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.

Following the letter or exact words; not free.

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

Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.

Creative writing of recognized artistic value

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

The humanistic study of a body of literature;

Literal meaning.

Published writings in a particular style on a particular subject;

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

The profession or art of a writer;

Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something;

Without interpretation or embellishment;

Limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text;

Lacking stylistic embellishment;

Of the clearest kind; usually used for emphasis;

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