Syn. — Heedless; careless; indifferent; vacant; uninterested; languid; spiritless; supine; indolent.
— List"less*ly, adv. — List"less*ness, n.
Lit
(Lit) a form of the imp. & p. p. of Light.
Litany
(Lit"a*ny) n.; pl. Litanies (- niz). [OE. letanie, OF. letanie, F. litanie, L. litania, Gr. litanei`a,
fr. litaney`ein to pray, akin to li`tesqai, li`ssesqai, to pray, lith` prayer.] A solemn form of supplication
in the public worship of various churches, in which the clergy and congregation join, the former leading
and the latter responding in alternate sentences. It is usually of a penitential character.
Supplications . . . for the appeasing of God's wrath were of the Greek church termed litanies, and
rogations of the Latin.
Hooker. Litarge
(Lit"arge) n. Litharge. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Litchi
(Li"tchi`) n. (Bot.) The fruit of a tree native to China (Nephelium Litchi). It is nutlike, having a
rough but tender shell, containing an aromatic pulp, and a single large seed. In the dried fruit which is
exported the pulp somewhat resembles a raisin in color and form. [Written also lichi, and lychee.]
-
lite
(-lite) See -lith.
Lite
(Lite) a., adv., & n. Little. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Liter
(Li"ter, Li"tre) 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.
Literacy
(Lit"er*a*cy) n. State of being literate.
Literal
(Lit"er*al) 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.
It hath but one simple literal sense whose light the owls can not abide.
Tyndale. 2. Following the letter or exact words; not free.
A middle course between the rigor of literal translations and the liberty of paraphrasts.
Hooker. 3. Consisting of, or expressed by, letters.
The literal notation of numbers was known to Europeans before the ciphers.
Johnson. 4. Giving a strict or literal construction; unimaginative; matter-of-fact; — applied to persons.
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.
Literal
(Lit"er*al), n. Literal meaning. [Obs.] Sir T. Browne.
Literalism
(Lit"er*al*ism) n.
1. That which accords with the letter; a mode of interpreting literally; adherence to the letter.
