illiterate

Meanings

1. Unable to read and write.
2. Having less than an expected standard of familiarity with language and literature, or having little formal education.
3. Not conforming to prescribed standards of speech or writing.
4. Ignorant in a specified way or about a specified subject.

1. An illiterate person, one either not able to read and write or not knowing how.
2. A person ignorant about a given subject. (The relevant subject is usually named as a noun adjunct.)

Etymology

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”). The noun was derived from the adjective by substantivization, see -ate (noun-forming suffix).