Etymograph

English

literation

Literation comes from Latin littera ‘letter’, and perhaps goes back to Old Latin leitera.

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleitera1uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElittera2‘letter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1878literation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meillet
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English literation
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, Transactions and Proceedings of the Conf, Charles Whittingham: “Another point which is of much importance, but upon…”.

Lineage

  1. Old Latinc. 700–75 BCEleiteraWiktionary, Latin littera, which cites Ernout, Meilletuncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElitteraWiktionary, English literation‘letter’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1878literationWiktionary, English literation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1878, Transactions and Proceedings of the Conf, Charles Whittingham: “Another point which is of much importance, but upon…”

Linked words

through Latin littera ‘letter’

letter, illiterate, 13 more

Today it means

noun The use of letters to represent sounds, words, etc., in a language.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “literation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin littera. 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 / literation

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