Word family noun literature literacy ≠ illiteracy illiterate literati adjective literary literate ≠ illiterate
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishliteratelit‧e‧rate /ˈlɪtərət/ adjective 1 READable to read and write OPP illiterate → numerate2 → computer literate/musically literate etc3 INTELLIGENTwell educatedExamples from the Corpus
literate• Meanwhile, the emerging industrial factories needed workers who were at least literate and able to follow directions.• Over the last hundred years, people have become healthier, more literate, and better educated.• It, too, wants people to be literate and complains that its offers to help have been ignored.• It is in this way that the apparent divide between literate and non-literate cultures simply disappears.• Third World governments build roads which help farmers to market their produce and schools which create a literate and numerate workforce.• Every student should be literate by the time he or she leaves primary school.• Either way, they do not need to tyrannize the literate newcomer.• So administration would be within the competence of any literate person.• Paper costs are high, but loss of literate readers is much higher.Origin literate (1400-1500) Latin litteratus, from littera; → LETTER1 