A literal is “any notation for representing a value within source code” (wikipedia)
(Contrast this with identifiers, which refer to a value in memory.)
Examples:
"hey"
(a string)false
(a boolean)3.14
(a real number)[1,2,3]
(a list of numbers)(x) => x*x
(a function)/^1?$|^(11+?)\1+$/
(a regexp)
Some things that are not literals:
std::cout
(an identifier)foo = 0;
(a statement)1+2
(an expression)