illiteracy

Etymology

It is formed from English illiterate + -acy.^[2][3][4][5] Etymonline describes the suffix as an ending that forms abstract nouns.^[6] The adjective, which the OED records from 1556 and Etymonline from the early 15th century, is from Latin illitterātus (“unlettered, unlearned”), formed from in- (“not”) and litterātus (“furnished with letters, learned”).^[2][6][7] Before illiteracy English used illiterature (1590s) and illiterateness (1630s) in the same sense.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The quality of being illiterate, ignorance of letters and lack of education, especially the inability to read and write: 1660, in S. Fisher's Rusticus ad Academicos.^[2][8] Etymonline dates the word to the 1650s, and Dictionary.com to 1650–60.^[6][4]

Semantic evolution

The word first named a general want of learning as much as the inability to read.^[2] From 1725, in Pope's preface to his edition of Shakespeare, it could also mean a single error that betrays a lack of education, a sense the modern dictionaries still record.^[2][8][9] The Shorter Oxford adds a general use for ignorance of a particular field, as in money illiteracy,^[3] and Wiktionary lists computer illiteracy among its derivatives.^[1]

Timeline

• 1660 – lack of education; inability to read and write.^[2][8]
• 1725 – an error caused by lack of learning, in Pope.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The inability to read and write: The new schools sharply reduced illiteracy in the region.^[9][8][2]
2. Lack of knowledge or competence in a particular field: financial illiteracy.^[3][2]
3. A mistake in speech or writing of the kind made by an uneducated person.^[9][8][2]

Related words

• aliteracy
• illiterate
• literacy
• literate
• letter
• illiterati

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin