literacy

lit·er·a·cy

noun \ˈli-t(ə-)rə-sē\

Definition of LITERACY

: the quality or state of being literate

Examples of LITERACY

1. The program is intended to promote adult literacy among people who have had very little schooling.
2. Their goal is to achieve basic literacy.

First Known Use of LITERACY

1883

Related to LITERACY

Synonyms

erudition, knowledge, learnedness, learning, education, scholarship

Antonyms

ignorance, illiteracy, illiterateness

Related Words

culture, edification, enlightenment; reading; bookishness, pedantry

Near Antonyms

functional illiteracy

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bathos, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

literacy

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Ability to read and write. The term may also refer to familiarity with literature and to a basic level of education obtained through the written word. In ancient civilizations such as those of the Sumerians and Babylonians, literacy was the province of an elite group of scholars and priests. Though more prevalent in classical Greece and Rome, it was often limited to members of the upper classes. The spread of literacy in Europe in the Middle Ages was evidenced by the use of writing for functions once conducted orally, such as the indenture of servants and the notation of evidence at trials. The rise of literacy in Europe was closely tied to great social transformations, notably the Protestant Reformation, which brought individual study of the Bible, and the development of modern science. The spread of literacy during the Reformation and the Renaissance was greatly facilitated by the development of printing from movable type and by the adoption of vernacular languages in place of Latin. Compulsory schooling, established in Britain, Europe, and the U.S. in the 19th century, has led to high rates of literacy in the modern industrialized world.