literate
Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word literate. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word literate, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say literate in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word literate you have here. The definition of the word literate will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofliterate, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From Middle English litterate, from Latin litterātus.
Pronunciation
Adjective
literate (comparative more literate, superlative most literate)
- Able to read and write; having literacy.
- Antonym: illiterate
- 1997, George Carlin, Brain Droppings, New York: Hyperion Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 86:
- Intelligence tests are biased toward the literate.
- Knowledgeable in literature, writing; literary; well-read.
- Which is used in writing (of a language or dialect).
- 2005, Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World, Harper:
- The Mongol emperor Kublai Khan even commissioned an alphabetic script for his empire, to be used officially for all its literate languages, Mongolian, Chinese, Turkic and Persian.
Derived terms
- aliterate
- antiliterate
- biliterate
- cineliterate
- computerate
- computer literate
- cyberliterate
- ecoliterate
- e-literate
- food-literate
- graphicate
- hyperliterate
- literately
- literateness
- literate programming
- literatesque
- literatize
- metaliterate
- monoliterate
- multiliterate
- nonliterate
- pluriliterate
- postliterate
- preliterate
- protoliterate
- quasiliterate
- semiliterate
- subliterate
- superliterate
- technoliterate
- triliterate
- unliterate
Related terms
Translations
able to read, having literacy
|
knowledgeable in literature and writing
|
Noun
literate (plural literates)
- A person who is able to read and write.
- (historical) A person who was educated but had not taken a university degree; especially a candidate to take holy orders.
Translations
Further reading
- “literate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “literate”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Latin
Adjective
literāte
References
- literate in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)