different between preliterate vs literate

English

Etymology

pre- +? literate

Adjective

preliterate (not comparable)

1. (of a culture) that has not yet developed a written language
2. (of a person) who has not yet learned to read and write

Noun

preliterate (plural preliterates)

1. a member of such a culture

English

Etymology

From Latin litteratus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?l?t???t/

Adjective

literate (comparative more literate, superlative most literate)

1. Able to read and write; having literacy.

   Antonym: illiterate

2. Knowledgeable in literature, writing; literary; well-read.
3. 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

• computer literate

Related terms

• illiterate
• letter
• literal
• literacy
• literary
• literature

Translations

Noun

literate (plural literates)

1. A person who is able to read and write.
2. (historical) A person who was educated but had not taken a university degree; especially a candidate to take holy orders.

Further reading

• literate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• literate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• laterite, teretial

Latin

Adjective

liter?te

1. vocative masculine singular of liter?tus

References

• literate in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)