literacyn.
/ˈlɪt(ə)rəsi/, U.S. /ˈlɪdərəsi/, /ˈlɪtrəsi/ Originally U.S.
1. The quality, condition, or state of being literate; the ability to read and write. Also: the extent of this in a given community, region, period, etc. Cf. numeracy n.In earliest use as an antithesis to illiteracy.adult literacy, mass literacy: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > scholarly knowledge, erudition > [noun] > book-learning, letters
craftOE
book loreOE
lettersa1250
letter1340
lettrurec1400
literaturec1450
reading?1548
book learning1553
book skill1553
book knowledge1613
bookcrafta1637
scholarship1644
clerkship1648
letter-learning1668
bookhood1772
clerk-learning1865
literacy1880
1880 Atlantic Monthly Nov. 722 It is not illiteracy I want to prevent, but literacy!
1888 New Princeton Rev. Dec. 336 Education is more general, our literacy greatly increased, our habits and tastes more refined.
1893 Athenæum 19 Aug. 255/3 It was for Mr. Edgar to trace the gradual progress in Scotland from illiteracy to literacy.
1940 Educ. Forum May 377/2 The literacy for the U.S. as a whole is 95.3 and for the mid-west 98.
1982 J. C. Raymond Literacy as Human Probl. 14 It would be convenient if literacy could be given out like hot lunches in the schools..to make avid readers of children who see no books at home.
2008 D. Crystal Txtng i. 10 There is increasing evidence that it [sc. text messaging] helps rather than hinders literacy.
2. In extended use (usually with modifying word). The ability to ‘read’ a specified subject or medium; competence or knowledge in a particular area.computer literacy, cultural literacy, etc.: see the first element.
ΚΠ
1943 Amer. Mag. Mar. 103/1 To help many of the poverty-stricken peoples to set their feet on the path of education, manual dexterity, and economic literacy.
1962 B.B.C. Handbk. 33 Our skills in the understanding of the medium [sc. television] and our own literacy in it are growing all the time.
1977 J. Monaco How to read Film i. 40 The new musical literacy that recordings helped to create..redounded to the benefit of the popular musical arts.
1997 Independent 7 July (Tabloid section) 8/3 The majority of doctors are not consciously cruel, but they are trained to see patients as body parts... What doctors need is a framework of emotional literacy.
2003 Independent 4 Mar. 16/7 The standard of design literacy is so high that..we have become a nation of interior designers.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, as literacy rate, literacy skills, etc.Recorded earliest in literacy test n. at Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1900 [see literacy test n. at Compounds 2].
1912 I. A. Hourwich Immigration & Labor iii. 70 The economic status of a people has a very decided effect upon the literacy rate.
1941 School Rev. 49 600 The evening junior college might send those seeking literacy skills to the proper agency.
1961 Ebony Apr. 27 (caption) She is a night class literacy teacher at Cleveland's East Technical High School.
1967 N.Y. Times 30 July 54/5 Migrants can obtain basic housekeeping, construction and literacy lessons.
1988 G. Northam Shooting in Dark (1989) x. 157 They run scruffy advice centres in church basements, organize literacy projects for the Manpower Services Commission and help ex-offenders.
1992 Economist 3 Oct. 79/1 Montagnard children, kept home to work the land, grow up unable to read in a country whose national literacy rate is 88%.
2002 Book Sept.–Oct. l11/1 Kids who go through what educators call strategic instruction show dramatic improvement in literacy skills.
C2.
literacy hour n. (also with capital initials) British Education (in primary schools) a daily literacy lesson, made part of the national curriculum in 1998; cf. numeracy hour n. at numeracy n. Compounds.
ΚΠ
1997 Guardian 7 Jan. (Educ. section) 4/1 The National Literacy Project... Describes its guiding principles as the ‘literacy hour’, which protects time for daily, direct teaching, and ‘a clear focus on instructional methods’.
2006 Times Educ. Suppl. (Nexis) 12 May 8 In the past month, the literacy hour has been all but abolished in its original form, with primary teachers being told to make their lessons more creative, using a variety of methods.
literacy test n. an examination which assesses a person's ability to read and write; (U.S.) such an examination required as a condition of voting (now historical).
ΚΠ
1900 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 26 Nov. 10/2 An honest literacy test, honestly enforced in the case of white and black alike, is a wholly different matter.
1968 R. Roberts Imprisoned Tongues 13 It is, of course, extremely difficult to devise the foolproof literacy test.
2001 U.S. News & World Rep. 18 June 12/1 It traditionally refers to literacy tests, poll taxes, and other obstacles deliberately placed before blacks to prevent them from voting.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1880