literacy

[ lit-er-uh-see ]

noun

1. the quality or state of being literate, especially the ability to read and write.
2. possession of education:

   to question someone's literacy.

   Synonyms: culture, learning

3. a person's knowledge of a particular subject or field:

   to acquire computer literacy;

   improving your financial literacy.

literacy

/ ˈlɪtərəsɪ /

noun

1. the ability to read and write
2. the ability to use language proficiently

Other Words From

• anti·liter·a·cy adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of literacy¹

First recorded in 1880–85; liter(ate) + -acy

Example Sentences

That’s why internet literacy is fundamental to any well-informed society.

From MIT Technology Review

Depending on which part of the country they live in, what languages they speak, what their literacy levels are, the experience can really vary.

From Quartz

Learning growth rates are substantially higher in grades K–2 than in later grades, and failure to understand the building blocks of numeracy and literacy in those early years can lead to academic difficulties later.

From Science News

While the research isn’t quite strong enough yet to make general recommendations, simply increasing your body literacy is beneficial.

From Outside Online

As a slower, clunkier way to explore the internet, they revel in not being the definitive source, just a source, says Mike Caulfield, a digital literacy expert at Washington State University.

From MIT Technology Review

Yet for a vivid decade or so, sleaze was, somewhat paradoxically, a force for literacy and empowerment.

From The Daily Beast

Supporters pointed to math and literacy gains, while critics noted that those improvements disappeared in elementary school.

From The Daily Beast

In 2011, all three countries reported less than 50 percent literacy in their adult population.

From The Daily Beast

Guinea, with 25 percent, recorded the lowest adult literacy rate in the world at that time.

From The Daily Beast

There was frenzied uproar when she participated in a literacy program to encourage kids to read.

From The Daily Beast

The proportion of literacy among Hindus and Sikhs is three times as great as among Muhammadans.

From Project Gutenberg

The organizers were a well-known literacy charity that ran kids' writing workshops, drama workshops and so on.

From Project Gutenberg

In the supremely important subject of literacy, what classification yet devised can weigh the culture of masses of people?

From Project Gutenberg

It would seem that the literacy test has been applied to ghosts in recent fiction.

From Project Gutenberg

With its literacy similes, its English, its artificial diction, it is a patch of cheap silk upon honest homespun.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• education
• knowledge
• learning
• proficiency