Literal vs. Variable — What's the Difference?

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

Likely to change or vary; subject to variation; changeable.

Word for word; verbatim

Inconstant; fickle.

Avoiding exaggeration, metaphor, or embellishment; factual; prosaic

(Biology) Tending to exhibit genetic variation or variation in a physical trait

Consisting of, using, or expressed by letters

(Mathematics) Having no fixed quantitative value.

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

Something that varies or is prone to variation.

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.

(Astronomy) A variable star.

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

A quantity capable of assuming any of a set of values.

(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

A symbol representing such a quantity. For example, in the expression a2 + b2 = c2, a,b, and c are variables.

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

Able to vary or be varied.

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

Likely to vary.

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

Marked by diversity or difference.

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

(mathematics) Having no fixed quantitative value.

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

(biology) Tending to deviate from a normal or recognized type.

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

Something that is variable.

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

Something whose value may be dictated or discovered.

Following the letter or exact words; not free.

(mathematics) A symbol representing a variable.

Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.

(programming) A named memory location in which a program can store intermediate results and from which it can read them.

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

(astronomy) A variable star.

Literal meaning.

(nautical) A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.

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

Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected, especially the parts between the trade-wind belts.

Being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something;

Having the capacity of varying or changing; capable of alternation in any manner; changeable; as, variable winds or seasons; a variable quantity.

Without interpretation or embellishment;

Liable to vary; too susceptible of change; mutable; fickle; unsteady; inconstant; as, the affections of men are variable; passions are variable.

Limited to the explicit meaning of a word or text;

That which is variable; that which varies, or is subject to change.

Lacking stylistic embellishment;

A quantity which may increase or decrease; a quantity which admits of an infinite number of values in the same expression; a variable quantity; as, in the equation x2 - y2 = R2, x and y are variables.

Of the clearest kind; usually used for emphasis;

A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.

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

Something that is likely to vary; something that is subject to variation;

A quantity that can assume any of a set of values

A star that varies noticeably in brightness

A symbol (like x or y) that is used in mathematical or logical expressions to represent a variable quantity

Liable to or capable of change;

Marked by diversity or difference;

(used of a device) designed so that a property (as e.g. light) can be varied;