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literate

Pronunciation: /ˈlɪtəɹət/

The English word “literate” has 6 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Able to read and write; having literacy.
  2. Knowledgeable in literature, writing; literary; well-read.
  3. Which is used in writing (of a language or dialect).
  4. Able to understand and evaluate something.

noun

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

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English litterate, borrowed from Latin lītterātus, līterātus, see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (noun-forming suffix). Doublet of literato and literatus. Displaced native Old English stæfwīs.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.