word for word

adverb

1. in exactly the same words; verbatim.
2. one word at a time, without regard for the sense of the whole:

   She translated the book word for word.

Other Word Forms

• word-for-word adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of word for word¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400

Idioms and Phrases

Exactly as written or spoken, as in That was the forecast, word for word . Chaucer used this idiom in the late 1300s.