Literality Lit`er·al"i·ty (-ăl"ĭ*tȳ) noun [ Confer French littéralité .] The state or quality of being literal. Sir T. Browne.

Literalization Lit`er·al·i·za"tion (lĭt`ẽr* a l*ĭ*zā"shŭn) noun The act of literalizing; reduction to a literal meaning.

Literalize Lit"er·al·ize (lĭt"ẽr* a l*īz) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Literalized (-īzd); present participle & verbal noun Literalizing (-ī`zĭng).] To make literal; to interpret or put in practice according to the strict meaning of the words; -- opposed to spiritualize ; as, to literalize Scripture.

Literalizer Lit"er·al·i`zer (-ī`zẽr) noun A literalist.

Literally Lit"er·al·ly adverb 1. According to the primary and natural import of words; not figuratively; as, a man and his wife can not be literally one flesh.

2. With close adherence to words; word by word.

So wild and ungovernable a poet can not be translated literally .

Dryden.

Literalness Lit"er·al·ness noun The quality or state of being literal; literal import.

Literary Lit"er·a·ry (lĭt"ẽr*a*rȳ) adjective [ Latin litterarius , literarius , from littera , litera , a letter: confer French littéraire . See Letter .]

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

He has long outlived his century, the term commonly fixed as the test of literary merit.

Johnson.

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.

In the literary as well as fashionable world.

Mason.

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

Literate Lit"er·ate (-at) adjective [ Latin litteratus , literatus . See Letter .] Instructed in learning, science, or literature; learned; lettered.

The literate now chose their emperor, as the military chose theirs.

Landor.

Literate Lit"er·ate noun 1. One educated, but not having taken a university degree; especially, such a person who is prepared to take holy orders. [ Eng.]

2. A literary man.

Literati Lit`e·ra"ti (lĭt`e*rā"tī) noun plural [ See Literatus .] Learned or literary men. See Literatus .

Shakespearean commentators, and other literati .

Craik.

Literatim Lit`e·ra"tim (-tĭm) adverb [ Late Latin , from Latin littera , litera , letter.] Letter for letter.

Literation Lit`er·a"tion (lĭt`ẽr*ā"shŭn) noun [ Latin littera , litera , letter.] The act or process of representing by letters.

Literator Lit"er·a`tor (lĭt"ẽr*ā`tẽr) noun [ Latin litterator , literator . See Letter .] 1. One who teaches the letters or elements of knowledge; a petty schoolmaster. Burke.

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

That class of subjects which are interesting to the regular literator or black-letter " bibliomane," simply because they have once been interesting.

De Quincey.

3. A learned person; a literatus. Sir W. Hamilton.

Literature Lit"er·a·ture (lĭt"ẽr*ȧ*tur; 135) noun [ French littérature , Latin litteratura , literatura , learning, grammar, writing, from littera , litera , letter. See Letter .] 1. Learning; acquaintance with letters or books.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Learning thy talent is, but mine is sense.

Prior.

Some gentlemen, abounding in their university erudition , fill their sermons with philosophical terms.

Swift.

Literatus Lit`e·ra"tus (lĭt`e*rā"tŭs) noun ; plural Literati (- tī). [ Latin litteratus , literatus .] A learned man; a man acquainted with literature; -- chiefly used in the plural .

Now we are to consider that our bright ideal of a literatus may chance to be maimed.

De Quincey.

Lith Lith (līth), obsolete 3d pers. sing. present of Lie , to recline, for lieth . Chaucer.

Lith Lith (lĭth) noun [ Anglo-Saxon lið .] A joint or limb; a division; a member; a part formed by growth, and articulated to, or symmetrical with, other parts. Chaucer.

Lithagogue Lith"a·gogue (lĭth"ȧ*gŏg) noun [ Greek li`qos stone + 'agwgo`s leading.] (Medicine) A medicine having, or supposed to have, the power of expelling calculous matter with the urine. Hooper.

Litharge Lith"arge (lĭth"ȧrj) noun [ Middle English litarge , French litharge , Latin lithargyrus , Greek liqa`rgyros the scum or foam of silver; li`qos stone + 'a`rgyros silver. Litharge is found in silverbearing lead ore.] (Chemistry) Lead monoxide; a yellowish red substance, obtained as an amorphous powder, or crystallized in fine scales, by heating lead moderately in a current of air or by calcining lead nitrate or carbonate. It is used in making flint glass, in glazing earthenware, in making red lead or minium, etc. Called also massicot .

Lithargyrum Li·thar"gy·rum (lĭ*thär"jĭ*rŭm) noun [ New Latin See Litharge .] (Old Chem.) Crystallized litharge, obtained by fusion in the form of fine yellow scales.

Lithate Lith"ate (lĭth"at) noun (Old Med. Chem.) A salt of lithic or uric acid; a urate. [ Obsolete] [ Written also lithiate .]

Lithe Lithe (lī&thlig;) transitive verb & i. [ Icel hlȳða . See Listen .] To listen or listen to; to hearken to. [ Obsolete] P. Plowman.

Lithe Lithe adjective [ Anglo-Saxon līðe , for linðe tender, mild, gentle; akin to German lind , gelind , Old High German lindi , Icelandic linr , Latin lenis soft, mild, lentus flexible, and Anglo-Saxon linnan to yield. Confer Lenient .] 1. Mild; calm; as, lithe weather. [ Obsolete]

2. Capable of being easily bent; pliant; flexible; limber; as, the elephant's lithe proboscis. Milton.

Lithe Lithe transitive verb [ Anglo-Saxon līðian . See Lithe , adjective ] To smooth; to soften; to palliate. [ Obsolete]

Lithely Lithe"ly adverb In a lithe, pliant, or flexible manner.

Litheness Lithe"ness noun The quality or state of being lithe; flexibility; limberness.

Lither Li"ther (lī"&thlig;ẽr) adjective [ Anglo-Saxon lȳðer bad, wicked.] Bad; wicked; false; worthless; slothful. [ Obsolete] Chaucer.

Not lither in business, fervent in spirit.

Bp. Woolton.

» Professor Skeat thinks " the lither sky" as found in Shakespeare's Henry VI. (Part I. IV. VII., 21) means the stagnant or pestilential sky.

-- Li"ther*ly , adverb [ Obsolete]. -- Li"ther*ness , noun [ Obsolete]

Litherly Li"ther·ly adjective Crafty; cunning; mischievous; wicked; treacherous; lazy. [ Archaic]

He [ the dwarf] was waspish, arch, and litherly .

Sir W. Scott.

Lithesome Lithe"some (lī&thlig;"sŭm) adjective [ See Lithe , adjective , and confer Lissom .] Pliant; limber; flexible; supple; nimble; lissom.

-- Lithe"some*ness , noun

Lithia Lith"i·a (lĭth"ĭ*ȧ) noun [ New Latin , from Greek li`qos stone.] (Chemistry) The oxide of lithium; a strong alkaline caustic similar to potash and soda, but weaker. See Lithium .

Lithia emerald . See Hiddenite .

Lithiasis Li·thi"a·sis (lĭ*thī"ȧ*sĭs) noun [ New Latin , from Greek liqi`asis , from li`qos stone.] (Medicine) The formation of stony concretions or calculi in any part of the body, especially in the bladder and urinary passages. Dunglison.

Lithic Lith"ic (lĭth"ĭk) adjective [ Greek liqiko`s of or belonging to stones, from li`qos stone: confer French lithique .] 1. Of or pertaining to stone; as, lithic architecture.

2. (Medicine) Pertaining to the formation of uric-acid concretions (stone) in the bladder and other parts of the body; as, lithic diathesis.

Lithic acid (Old Med. Chem.) , uric acid. See Uric acid , under Uric .

lithic lith"ic noun (Medicine) A medicine which tends to prevent stone in the bladder.

Lithic Lith"ic adjective [ From Lithium .] (Chemistry) Pertaining to or denoting lithium or some of its compounds. Frankland.

Lithiophilite Lith`i·oph"i·lite (lĭth`ĭ*ŏf"ĭ*līt) noun [ Lithium + Greek fi`los friend.] (Min.) A phosphate of manganese and lithium; a variety of triphylite.

Lithium Lith"i·um (lĭth"ĭ*ŭm) noun [ New Latin , from Greek li`qeios of stone, from li`qos stone.] (Chemistry) A metallic element of the alkaline group, occurring in several minerals, as petalite, spodumene, lepidolite, triphylite, etc., and otherwise widely disseminated, though in small quantities.

» When isolated it is a soft, silver white metal, tarnishing and oxidizing very rapidly in the air. It is the lightest solid element known, specific gravity being 0.59. Symbol Li. Atomic weight 7.0 So called from having been discovered in a mineral.

Litho Lith"o (lĭth"o) A combining form from Greek li`qos , stone .

Lithobilic Lith`o·bil"ic (-bĭl"ĭk) adjective [ Litho + bile .] (Chemistry) Pertaining to or designating an organic acid of the tartaric acid series, distinct from lithofellic acid, but, like it, obtained from certain bile products, as bezoar stones.

Lithocarp Lith"o·carp (lĭth"o*kärp) noun [ Litho- + Greek karpo`s fruit: confer French lithocarpe .] (Paleon.) Fossil fruit; a fruit petrified; a carpolite.

Lithochromatics Lith`o·chro·mat"ics (-kro*măt"ĭks) noun See Lithochromics .

Lithochromics Lith`o·chro"mics (-krō"mĭks) noun [ Litho- + Greek chrw^ma color.] The art of printing colored pictures on canvas from oil paintings on stone.

Lithoclast Lith"o·clast (lĭth"o*klăst) noun [ Litho- + Greek kla^n to break.] (Surg.) An instrument for crushing stones in the bladder.

Lithocyst Lith"o·cyst (lĭth"o*sĭst) noun [ Litho- + cyst .] (Zoology) A sac containing small, calcareous concretions ( otoliths ). They are found in many Medusæ, and other invertebrates, and are supposed to be auditory organs.

Lithodome Lith"o·dome (-dōm) noun [ Litho- + Greek do`mos house: confer French lithodome .] (Zoology) Any one of several species of bivalves, which form holes in limestone, in which they live; esp., any species of the genus Lithodomus .

Lithodomous Li·thod"o·mous adjective (Zoology) Like, or pertaining to, Lithodomus; lithophagous.

Lithodomus Li·thod"o·mus noun [ New Latin See Lithodome .] (Zoology) A genus of elongated bivalve shells, allied to the mussels, and remarkable for their ability to bore holes for shelter, in solid limestone, shells, etc. Called also Lithophagus .

» These holes are at first very small and shallow, but are enlarged with the growth of the shell, sometimes becoming two or three inches deep and nearly an inch diameter.

Lithofellic Lith"o·fel"lic adjective [ Litho- + Latin fel , fellis , gall.] (Physiol. Chem.) Pertaining to, or designating, a crystalline, organic acid, resembling cholic acid, found in the biliary intestinal concretions (bezoar stones) common in certain species of antelope.

Lithofracteur Lith`o·frac"teur noun [ French, from li`qos stone + Latin frangere , fractum , to break.] An explosive compound of nitroglycerin. See Nitroglycerin .

Lithogenesy Lith`o·gen"e·sy noun [ Litho- Greek ge`nesis origin, generation: confer French lithogénésie . See Genesis .] The doctrine or science of the origin of the minerals composing the globe.

Lithogenous Li·thog"e·nous (lĭ*thŏj"e*nŭs) adjective [ Litho- + -genous .] Stone- producing; -- said of polyps which form coral.

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