Where does “literacy” come from?
Literacy comes from English literate, from Latin litteratus meaning "marked with letters," from Latin littera, from Ancient Greek διφθέρα, from Proto-Indo-European -tós.
literacy (English): The ability to read and write; Understanding of...
Definitions
- The ability to read and write; Understanding of...
Ancestry of “literacy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | literate | Able to read and write; having literacy;... |
| 2 | Middle English | litterate | — |
| 3 | Latin | litteratus | learned, educated, scholarly, literate; cultured,... |
| 4 | Latin | littera | a letter of the alphabet; handwriting; letter,... |
| 5 | Latin | lītera | — |
| 6 | Old Latin | leitera | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂leyH- | to smear |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | leyh₂- | to die, disapear; to avoid, elude, decline,... |