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illiterate

adj
/ɪˈlɪtəɹət/

Etymology

First attested in 1425–1475, in Middle English; from Middle English illiterat(e) (“uneducated, ignorant of Latin”), borrowed from Latin illīterātus, illitterātus (“unlearned, ignorant”), itself from in- (“un-”) + līterātus, litterātus (“furnished with letters”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from lītera, littera (“letter, character”). The noun was derived from the adjective by substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).

  1. derived from illīterātus
  2. inherited from illiterat

Definitions

  1. Unable to read and write.

    • About half of the population in Ethiopia is illiterate.

  2. Having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature, or…

    Having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature, or having little formal education.

    • He's illiterate […] Seriously, how did he get into RI?

  3. Not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing.

    • Now (exc. in Nautical language, see b) it is only dialectal or an illiterate substitute for lie, its identity of form with the past tense of the latter no doubt accounting largely for the confusion.
  4. ›+ 3 more definitions

    1. Ignorant in a specified way or about a specified subject.

      • technologically illiterate, economically illiterate, emotionally illiterate

    2. An illiterate person, one either not able to read and write or not knowing how.

      • We might also provide education plus reading and writing services to adult illiterates.

    3. A person ignorant about a given subject. (The relevant subject is usually named as a noun…

      A person ignorant about a given subject. (The relevant subject is usually named as a noun adjunct.)

      • Their government is run by business illiterates.
      • Sometimes a mathematical illiterate is called an innumerate.

The neighborhood

Derived

computer illiterate, e-illiterate, illiteracy, illiterately, illiterateness, nonilliterate

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for illiterate. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA