illiterate

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈlɪtəɹət/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Etymology

Recorded in English since 1556, from Latin illitteratus (“unlearned, ignorant”), itself from in- (“un-”) + litteratus (“furnished with letters”) (from littera (“letter, character”)).

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.

Synonyms

• ignorant
• unlettered

Antonyms

• literate

Derived terms

• illiteracy
• illiterately
• illiterateness

Translations

unable to read and write

• Catalan: illetrat (ca), analfabet (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 文盲 (cmn) (wénmáng)

• Czech: negramotný (cs) m
• Dutch: ongeletterd (nl)
• Finnish: lukutaidoton (fi)
• French: illettré (fr) m, illettrée (fr) f
• German: analphabetisch (de)
• Greek: αγράμματος (el) (agrámmatos) 
• Hungarian: analfabéta (hu), írástudatlan (hu)
• Italian: analfabeta (it)
• Korean: 문맹 (munmaeng)

• Kurdish:

  Sorani:

  Kurmanji: nexwendewar (ku), nexwenda (ku)

  Sorani: نه‌خوێنده‌وار (nexwêndewar)

• Malay: tunaaksara (ms)
• Polish: niepiśmienny m
• Portuguese: analfabeto (pt) m
• Romanian: analfabet (ro) m, anaflabetă (ro) f
• Russian: неграмотный (ru) (negrámotnyj) 
• Spanish: analfabeto (es)
• Swedish: analfabetisk (sv)

having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature

• Finnish: sivistymätön (fi), kouluja käymätön (fi)
• French: analphabète (fr)
• German: ungebildet (de), ungelehrt (de)
• Greek: αναλφάβητος (el) (analfávitos) 
• Hungarian: műveletlen (hu), tanulatlan (hu)

• Italian: illetterato (it)
• Polish: analfabeta
• Russian: безграмотный (ru) (bezgrámotnyj) , невежественный (ru) (nevéžestvennyj) 
• Swedish: obildad (sv), illitterat (sv)

not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing

• German: ungebildet (de), ungelehrt (de)
• Greek: αναλφάβητος (el) (analfávitos) 

• Russian: безграмотный (ru) (bezgrámotnyj) , невежественный (ru) (nevéžestvennyj) 

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Italian: illetterato m, illetterata f

• Japanese:

  kanji: 文盲, 非識字

  hiragana: もんもう, ひしきじ

  romaji: monmō, hishikiji

• Latin: illitteratus
• Portuguese: iletrado, analfabeto, ignorante.
• Spanish: analfabeto

Noun

illiterate (plural illiterates)

1. an illiterate person, one not able to read.

Translations

an illiterate person

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 文盲 (cmn) (wénmáng)

• Danish: analfabet (da)
• Dutch: ongeletterde (nl) m, analfabeet (nl) m
• Finnish: lukutaidoton (fi)
• German: Analphabet (de) m, Analphabetin (de) f
• Greek: αναλφάβητος (el) m (analfávitos) (analfávitos)

• Hungarian: analfabéta (hu)
• Japanese: 文盲 (ja) (もんもう, monmō)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: نه‌خوێنده‌وار

• Polish: analfabeta m, analfabetka f
• Russian: неграмотный (ru) (negrámotnyj) m 
• Swedish: analfabet (sv) c

References

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