different between literature vs illiterate

English

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Alternative forms

• literatuer (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English literature, from Old French littérature, from Latin literatura or litteratura, from littera (“letter”), from Etruscan, from Ancient Greek ??????? (diphthér?, “tablet”). Displaced native Old English b?ccræft.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?l?.t?.??.t??(?)/, /?l?.t??.t??(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?l?.t?.?.t??/, /?l?.t?.?.t??/, /?l?.t???.t??/, /?l?.t?.t??/
• (Midwestern US) IPA^(key): /?l?.t?.t??/

Noun

literature (usually uncountable, plural literatures)

1. The body of all written works.
2. The collected creative writing of a nation, people, group, or culture.
3. (usually preceded by the) All the papers, treatises, etc. published in academic journals on a particular subject.

   • The obvious question to ask at this point is: ‘Why posit the existence of a set of Thematic Relations (THEME, AGENT, INSTRUMENT, etc.) distinct from constituent structure relations?? The answer given in the relevant literature is that a variety of linguistic phenomena can be accounted for in a more principled way in terms of Thematic Functions than in terms of constituent structure relations.
4. Written fiction of a high standard.

   However, even “literary” science fiction rarely qualifies as literature, because it treats characters as sets of traits rather than as fully realized human beings with unique life stories. —Adam Cadre, 2008

Derived terms

Meronyms

• See also Thesaurus:literature

Related terms

• letter
• literal
• literacy
• literate
• literary

Translations

Further reading

• "literature" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 183.

Anagrams

• literateur, literatuer

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): /??l?t???t/, /??l?t??t/

Adjective

illiterate (comparative more illiterate, superlative most illiterate)

1. Unable to read and write.
2. Having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature, or having little formal education.
3. Not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing.
4. Ignorant in a specified way or about a specified subject.

   economically illiterate, emotionally illiterate

Synonyms

• analphabetic
• ignorant
• unlettered

Antonyms

• literate

Derived terms

• illiteracy
• illiterately
• illiterateness

Translations

See also

• innumerate (adjective)
• numerate (adjective)

Noun

illiterate (plural illiterates)

1. An illiterate person, one not able to read and write.
2. A person ignorant about a given subject.

   The government is run by business illiterates.

Synonyms

• analphabet
• analphabetic (noun)

Translations

See also

• innumerate (noun)
• numerate (noun)

References

• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “illiterate”, in Online Etymology Dictionary