Term representing 'promise', literally? (4,3,4)
I believe the answer is:
word for word
'literally?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'term representing promise' is the wordplay.
'term' becomes 'word' (I've seen this before).
'representing' becomes 'for' (I've seen this in other clues).
'promise' becomes 'word' (as in 'I give you my word').
'word'+'for'+'word'='WORD-FOR-WORD'
(Other definitions for word for word that I've seen before include "Exchange of promises" , "Verbatim, literally" , "carefully translated?" .)