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Literate - 5 dictionary results

lit⋅er⋅ate

  [lit-er-it]
Use Literate in a Sentence
–adjective
1. able to read and write.
2. having or showing knowledge of literature, writing, etc.; literary; well-read.
3. characterized by skill, lucidity, polish, or the like: His writing is literate but cold and clinical.
4. having knowledge or skill in a specified field: literate in computer usage.
5. having an education; educated.
–noun
6. a person who can read and write.
7. a learned person.
Origin:
1400–50; late ME < L līterātus, litterātus learned, scholarly. See letter, -ate 1

Related forms:
lit⋅er⋅ate⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
3, 5. well-informed, knowledgeable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Literate
lit·er·ate   (lĭt'ər-ĭt)   
adj.  
    1. Able to read and write.
    2. Knowledgeable or educated in a particular field or fields.
  2. Familiar with literature; literary.
  3. Well-written; polished: a literate essay.
n.  
  1. One who can read and write.
  2. A well-informed, educated person.

[Middle English litterate, from Latin litterātus, from littera, lītera, letter; see letter.]
lit'er·ate·ly adv., lit'er·ate·ness n.
Usage Note: For most of its long history in English, literate has meant only "familiar with literature," or more generally, "well-educated, learned." Only since the late 19th century has it also come to refer to the basic ability to read and write. Its antonym illiterate has an equally broad range of meanings: an illiterate person may be incapable of reading a shopping list or unable to grasp an allusion to Shakespeare or Keats. The term functional illiterate is often used to describe a person who can read or write to some degree, but below a minimum level required to function in even a limited social situation or job setting. An aliterate person, by contrast, is one who is capable of reading and writing but who has little interest in doing so, whether out of indifference to learning in general or from a preference for seeking information and entertainment by other means. · More recently, the meanings of the words literacy and illiteracy have been extended from their original connection with reading and literature to any body of knowledge. For example, "geographic illiterates" cannot identify the countries on a map, and "computer illiterates" are unable to use a word-processing system. All of these uses of literacy and illiteracy are acceptable.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Literate

Lit"er*ate\, a. [L. litteratus, literatus. See Letter.] Instructed in learning, science, or literature; learned; lettered.

The literate now chose their emperor, as the military chose theirs. --Landor.

Literate

Lit"er*ate\, n. 1. One educated, but not having taken a university degree; especially, such a person who is prepared to take holy orders. [Eng.]

2. A literary man.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Literate
Spanish: alfabetizado,
German: des Lesens und Schreibens kundig,
Japanese: 読み書きのできる
More Translations »

literate 
1432, from L. lit(t)eratus "educated, learned," lit. "one who knows the letters," formed in imitation of Gk. grammatikos from L. lit(t)era "letter." Literacy was formed in Eng. and first appears 1883, but illiteracy dates back to 1660.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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