Etymograph

English

illiterate

Illiterate comes from Middle English illiterat(e) ‘uneducated, ignorant of Latin’, from Latin litterātus ‘furnished with letters’, and perhaps ultimately from Old Latin leitera.

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleitera1uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera2‘letter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātus3‘furnished with letters’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEillīterātus3‘unlearned, ignorant’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500illiterat(e)3‘uneducated, ignorant of Latin’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1647illiterate3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meillet
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin litteratus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English illiterate
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1647, Theodore de la Guard pseudonym; Nathanie, The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America. […]: “If publique Aſſemblies of Divines cannot agree upon a…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleiteraWiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meilletuncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitteraWiktionary, Latin litteratus‘letter’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitterātusWiktionary, English illiterate‘furnished with letters’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEillīterātusWiktionary, English illiterate‘unlearned, ignorant’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500illiterat(e)Wiktionary, English illiterate‘uneducated, ignorant of Latin’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1647illiterateWiktionary, English illiterate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1647, Theodore de la Guard pseudonym; Nathanie, The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America. […]: “If publique Aſſemblies of Divines cannot agree upon a…”

first attested First attested in 1425–1475 (as stated in Wiktionary’s etymology)

The story

First attested in 1425–1475, in Middle English; from Middle English illiterat(e) (‘uneducated, ignorant of Latin’), borrowed from Latin illīterātus, illitterātus (‘unlearned, ignorant’), itself from in- (‘un-’) + līterātus, litterātus (‘furnished with letters’) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from lītera, littera (‘letter, character’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Latin littera ‘letter’

letter, literally, literature, literary, literal, 10 more

Today it means

adj Unable to read and write.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “illiterate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin littera, Latin litteratus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Old Latin leitera / illiterate

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