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analphabetic

 - 2 dictionary results

an⋅al⋅pha⋅bet⋅ic

[an-al-fuh-bet-ik, an-al-]
–adjective
1. not alphabetic: an analphabetic arrangement of letters.
2. unable to read or write; illiterate: analphabetic peoples.
3. Phonetics. of or constituting a system of phonetic transcription, as the one devised by Otto Jespersen, that for each sound indicates by separate sets of symbols the articulator, the point of articulation, and the size and shape of the mouth opening.
–noun
4. an illiterate person; analphabet.

Origin:
1660–70; < Gk analphábēt(os) not knowing the alphabet (an- an- 1 + alphábēt(os) alphabet + -os adj. suffix) + -ic
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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an·al·pha·bet·ic   (ān-āl'fə-bět'ĭk)   
adj.  
  1. Not alphabetical.

  2. Unable to read; illiterate.

n.  One who is unable to read; an illiterate.

[From Greek analphabētos, not knowing the alphabet : an-, not; see a-1 + alphabētos, alphabet; see alphabet.]
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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