illitteratus Latin · revision 36031

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=230/220–168 BC, Caecilius Statius|origins=la littera}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɪl.lɪt.tɛˈraː.tʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [il.lit.teˈraː.tus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''illitterātus''' (feminine illitterāta, neuter illitterātum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''illiterātus'' and ''inlitterātus''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|in-|litterātus|t1=not|t2=lettered, learned]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Bianchi & Lelli 2014)^(TLL) The adjective is formed from [[m|la|littera|t=letter]];^(de Vaan 2008) de Vaan finds the old derivation of that noun from the root of [[m|la|linō|t=to smear]] morphologically unconvincing, and gives no other.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL and Köbler record it from Caecilius Statius,^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) whose ''quid narras … illitterate inlex?'' (“what are you saying, you ignorant …?”) is the OLD's first citation.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It means uneducated or ignorant:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cato calls the Ligurians ''illitterati mendacesque'', “unlettered and liars”,^(Georges 1913)^(OLD 2012) and Columella uses it of a farm manager who cannot read.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) It also means lacking higher learning: Cicero calls a man good and not unlearned, and Seneca explains that the word is used of someone not wholly ignorant but not taken on to advanced study.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Of things it is unpolished or unscholarly: Pliny the Younger jokes that he writes very many but most unlearned letters.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ Gellius and Festus use it in the sense “unwritten”, of laws abolished by the Athenians' silent and unwritten consent and of a peace not set down in writing;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) the grammarian Priscian uses it of sounds that cannot be written down, such as interjections.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) In British Medieval Latin it is unable to read and write, also as a noun,^(DMLBS) and Köbler gives a medieval noun meaning “layman”.^(Köbler 2010) English took it as [[m|en|illiterate]] in the early 15th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 230/220–168 BC – Caecilius Statius uses it as a term of abuse.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 234–149 BC – Cato calls the Ligurians unlettered.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a man without learning.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius uses it for “unwritten”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 6th century AD – Priscian uses it of sounds that cannot be written.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 15th century – English borrows it as [[m|en|illiterate]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|uneducated|alt=Uneducated]], ignorant, [[m|en|illiterate]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Lacking scholarship, [[m|en|unlearned]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Of things, unpolished, unscholarly.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # Not written down, [[m|en|unwritten]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(grammar)'' Of a sound, that cannot be written, inarticulate.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin, as a noun)'' One who cannot read; a [[m|en|layman]].^(DMLBS)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[litterātus]]

+ * [[littera]]

+ * [[en|illiterate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}