illiterate

illiterate

English

Etymology

Recorded in English since 1556, from Latin illitteratus (“unlearned, ignorant”), itself from in- (“un-”) + litteratus (“furnished with letters”) (from littera (“letter, character”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈlɪtəɹət/, /ɪˈlɪtɹət/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

illiterate (comparative more illiterate, superlative most illiterate)

1. Unable to read and write.
   • 1647, Theodore de la Guard [pseudonym; Nathaniel Ward], The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America. […], London: […] J[ohn] D[ever] & R[obert] I[bbitson] for Stephen Bowtell, […], OCLC 560031272, page 37:

     If publique Aſſemblies of Divines cannot agree upon a right vvay, private Conventicles of illeterate men, vvill ſoon finde a vvrong. Bivious demurres breed devious reſolutions. Paſſengers to heaven are in haſte, and vvill vvalk one vvay or other.

2. Having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature, or having little formal education.
   • 1722, William Wollaston, “Sect. V. Truths relating to the Deity. Of his exiſtence, perfection, providence, &c.”, in The Religion of Nature Delineated‎, page 81:

     Ignorant and ſuperſtitious wretches meaſure the actions of letterd and philoſophical men by the tattle of their nurſes or illiterate parents and companions, or by the faſhion of the country : and people of differing religions judge and condemn each other by their own tenents ; when both of them cannot be in the right, and it is well if either of them are.

3. Not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing.
   • 1908, “lay v.¹”, in James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors, A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume VI, Part 1, London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 128:

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

   economically illiterate, emotionally illiterate

Synonyms

• analphabetic
• ignorant
• uncharactered (obsolete)
• unlettered

Antonyms

• literate

Derived terms

• illiteracy
• illiterately
• illiterateness

Translations

unable to read and write

Arabic: أُمِّيّ‎ (ʾummiyy) Armenian: անգրագետ (hy) (angraget) Azerbaijani: savadsız Bashkir: наҙан (naðan) Belarusian: няпісьме́нны (njapisʹmjénny), нягра́матны (njahrámatny), неадукава́ны (njeadukavány) Bulgarian: негра́мотен (bg) (negrámoten), необразо́ван (bg) (neobrazóvan) Catalan: illetrat (ca), analfabet (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 文盲 (zh) (wénmáng) Czech: negramotný (cs) m, nevzdělaný Danish: analfabetisk Dutch: ongeletterd (nl), analfabeet (nl) Esperanto: analfabeta (eo) Finnish: lukutaidoton (fi) French: illettré (fr) m, illettrée (fr) f, analphabète (fr) m or f German: analphabetisch (de) Greek: αγράμματος (el) (agrámmatos) Ancient Greek: ἀγράμματος (agrámmatos) Hebrew: אַנְאַלְפָבֵּית‎ (he) m (analfabét), אֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ צוּרַת א'‎ (he) m (einó yodéa' tzurát álef) (literary) Hindi: अशिक्षित (hi) (aśikṣit) Hungarian: analfabéta (hu), írástudatlan (hu) Indonesian: buta huruf (id), tunaaksara (id) Irish: neamhliteartha Italian: analfabeta (it) Japanese: 文盲の (ja) (もんもうの, monmou no), 読み書きができない (よみかきができない, yomikaki ga dekinai) Korean: 글을 모르다 (geureul moreuda), 문맹의 (ko) (munmaeng'ui) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: نەخوێندەوار‎ (nexwêndewar) Northern Kurdish: nexwendewar (ku), nexwenda (ku) Macedonian: неписмен (nepismen) Malay: tunaaksara, buta huruf Maori: kū(w)are-ā-tuhi Old English: unstæfwīs Persian: بی‌سواد‎ (bi-savâd) Polish: niepiśmienny (pl) m, niegramotny (pl) (colloquial) Portuguese: analfabeto (pt), iletrado (pt) Romanian: analfabet (ro) Russian: негра́мотный (ru) (negrámotnyj), необразо́ванный (ru) (neobrazóvannyj) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: нѐписмен Roman: nèpismen (sh) Slovak: negramotný, nevzdelaný Slovene: nepismen Spanish: analfabeto (es), iletrado (es), ágrafo (es) Swedish: icke läskunnig (sv), analfabetisk (sv) Tagalog: dinulat, maang Ukrainian: негра́мотний (nehrámotnyj), неписьме́нний (nepysʹménnyj), неосві́чений (neosvíčenyj), неодуко́ваний (neodukóvanyj) Vietnamese: dốt nát (vi), mù chữ (vi), thất học (vi)

having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature

Armenian: անգրագետ (hy) (angraget) Bashkir: наҙан (naðan) Bulgarian: необразо́ван (bg) (neobrazóvan) Finnish: sivistymätön (fi), kouluja käymätön French: analphabète (fr) German: ungebildet (de), ungelehrt Greek: αναλφάβητος (el) (analfávitos) Hungarian: műveletlen (hu), tanulatlan (hu) Irish: ainléannta Italian: illetterato (it) Japanese: 無学の (むがくの, mugaku no) Malayalam: പഠിപ്പില്ലാത്ത (paṭhippillātta), നിരക്ഷരനായ m (nirakṣaranāya) Old English: unstæfwīs, unġelǣred Polish: analfabeta (pl) m, analfabetka (pl) f Portuguese: iletrado (pt) Russian: безгра́мотный (ru) (bezgrámotnyj), необразо́ванный (ru) (neobrazóvannyj), неве́жественный (ru) (nevéžestvennyj) Swedish: obildad (sv), illitterat (sv)

not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing

Armenian: անգրագետ (hy) (angraget) German: ungebildet (de), ungelehrt Greek: αναλφάβητος (el) (analfávitos) Russian: безгра́мотный (ru) (bezgrámotnyj), неве́жественный (ru) (nevéžestvennyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: (please verify) illetterato (it) m, (please verify) illetterata (it) f Latin: (please verify) illitteratus Portuguese: iletrado (pt), analfabeto (pt) Spanish: (please verify) analfabeto (es)

See also

• innumerate (adjective)
• numerate (adjective)

Noun

illiterate (plural illiterates)

1. An illiterate person, one either not able to read and write or not knowing how.
   • 1993, Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Sower, HEADLINE PUBLISHING GROUP (2019), page 210:

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

2. A person ignorant about a given subject.

   The government is run by business illiterates.

Synonyms

• analphabet
• analphabetic (noun)

Translations

an illiterate person

Armenian: անգրագետ (hy) (angraget) Bulgarian: неграмотен (bg) m (negramoten) Catalan: analfabet (ca) m Chinese: Cantonese: 文盲 (man4 maang4) Hakka: 文盲 (vùn-mòng) Mandarin: 文盲 (zh) (wénmáng) Min Dong: 青盲牛 (chăng-màng-ngù) Min Nan: 青盲牛 (zh-min-nan) (chhiⁿ-mî-gû; chheⁿ-mê-gû) Danish: analfabet (da) c Dutch: ongeletterde (nl) m, analfabeet (nl) m Esperanto: analfabeto (eo) Finnish: lukutaidoton (fi) French: illettré (fr) m, illettrée (fr) f, analphabète (fr) m or f German: Analphabet (de) m, Analphabetin (de) f Greek: αναλφάβητος (el) m (analfávitos) Hungarian: analfabéta (hu) Italian: analfabeta (it) m or f by sense Japanese: 文盲 (ja) (もんもう, monmō), 非識字者 (hishikijisha) Korean: 문맹 (ko) (munmaeng) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: نەخوێندەوار‎ (nexwêndewar) Malayalam: നിരക്ഷരൻ (nirakṣaraṉ) Norwegian: Bokmål: analfabet (no) m Nynorsk: analfabet m Persian: بی‌سواد‎‎ (bi-savâd) Polish: analfabeta (pl) m, analfabetka (pl) f Portuguese: analfabeto (pt) m, analfabeta (pt) f Romanian: analfabet (ro) m, analfabetă (ro) f Russian: негра́мотный (ru) m (negrámotnyj) Spanish: analfabeto (es) m, analfabeta (es) f, iletrado (es) m, iletrada (es) f Swedish: analfabet (sv) c

See also

• innumerate (noun)
• numerate (noun)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “illiterate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.