Advertisement
illiterate (adj.)
early 15c., "uneducated, unable to read and write" (originally meaning Latin), from Latin illiteratus "unlearned, unlettered, ignorant; without culture, inelegant," from assimilated form of in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + literatus "educated," literally "furnished with letters" (see literate). Old English used unstæfwis as a loan-translation of Latin illiteratus. As a noun meaning "illiterate person" from 1620s. Hence, illiterati (1788, Horace Walpole).
Others are reading
Advertisement
Definitions of illiterate from WordNet
Dictionary entries near illiterate
illimitable
illing
Illinois
illiquid
illiteracy
illiterate
ill-mannered
illness
illocution
illocutionary
illogical