literate

C2+ Topic:Communication

US /ˈlɪtərət/ UK /ˈlɪtərət/ See IPA manual

adj noun

Meanings

1

adj
able to read and write; well educated

Only a small fraction of the population was literate at the time.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · able to read and write;... educated lettered learned cultured schooled erudite

Opposites

illiterateunletteredignorant uneducated

Word family

Derived forms literatelyliterateness

Related forms literacy literature literal

Etymology

From Latin litterātus ('marked with letters, learned'), from littera ('letter of the alphabet').

litterātus Latin littera Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Communication Word Formation & Derivatives

# literate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** ˈlɪtərət
**IPA (UK):** ˈlɪtərət

## Meanings
1. able to read and write; well educated

## Examples
- Only a small fraction of the population was literate at the time.

## Synonyms
- educated
- lettered
- learned
- cultured
- schooled
- erudite

## Antonyms
- illiterate
- unlettered
- ignorant
- uneducated

## Derived Forms
- literately
- literateness

## Related Forms
- literacy
- literature
- literal

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: litterātus
- Root: littera

## Etymology
From Latin litterātus ('marked with letters, learned'), from littera ('letter of the alphabet').

## AI Etymology
Literate is from Latin litterātus ('marked with letters, learned'), from littera ('letter of the alphabet'). Important recorded forms include litterātus (Latin) and littera (Latin). The current sense covers able to read and write; well educated. The wider family includes derived forms such as literately and literateness and related words such as literacy, literature, and literal.

## Topics
- Communication
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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literate

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