Used when following a text word by word, especially in translation contexts. Often appears in compounds like 逐語訳 (word-for-word translation) or 逐語的 (literal, verbatim).
See also: 逐語訳 · 逐語的 (ちくごてき)
This translation is too word-for-word and doesn't sound like natural Japanese.
A word-for-word translation sometimes fails to convey the nuance of the original text.
word-for-word; verbatim
word-for-word translation; literal translation
Compound of 逐 (pursue, follow in order) and 語 (word, language). The meaning 'word by word' follows naturally from the kanji components.