literate

名词 literate:

1. a person who can read and write
   同义词：literate person

形容词 literate:

1. able to read and write
2. versed in literature; dealing with literature
3. knowledgeable and educated in one or several fields

1. The old man has to ask a literate to read the letter his son write him.
   这位老人得找个能识字的人来读儿子来的信。
2. Though nearly twenty he was barely literate.
   他都快二十了，还是睁眼瞎子。
3. Every literate person should read this book.
   凡有文化的人都该一读此书。

lit.er.ate

adj.（形容词）

Able to read and write.
识字的：会读写的
Knowledgeable or educated in several fields or a particular field.
有学问的：有知识的或在几个或某一特定领域内受过教育的
Familiar with literature; literary.
精通文学的；文学的
Well-written; polished:
写得好的；优美的：
例句：
a literate essay.
一篇优美的散文

n.（名词）
One who can read and write.
识字的人：会读和写的人
A well-informed, educated person.
受过教育的博学的人

来源：
Middle English litterate
中古英语 litterate
from Latin litter3tus
源自 拉丁语 litter3tus
from littera [letter] * see letter
源自 littera [字母] *参见 letter

【引伸】
lit.erately
adv.（副词）
lit.erateness
n.（名词）
For most of its long history in English,literate has meant only .familiar with literature,. or more generally, .well-educated, learned.;it is only during the last hundred years that it has also come to refer to the basic ability to read and write.Its antonymilliterate has an equally broad range of meanings: anilliterate person may be incapable of reading a shopping list or perhaps may only be unable to grasp an allusion to Shakespeare or Keats.The termfunctional illiterate is often used to describe a person who can read or write to some degree, but below a minimum level required to function in even a limited social situation or job setting.More recently, the meanings of the wordsliteracy and illiteracy have been extended from their original connection with reading and literature to any body of knowledge. For example, .geographic illiterates. cannot identify the countries on a map,and .computer illiterates. are unable to use a word-processing system.None of these uses ofliteracy or illiteracy are incorrect, but it might be preferable to use another word in instances where the context does not make the meaning clear.
在英语悠久的历史中，literate 大部分时期只表示.精通文学的.或更概括一些， 指.受过良好教育的，有学问的.；仅仅是在上个世纪它才开始表示读和写的基本能力。它的反义词illiterate 有着同样广泛的意义： 一个illereare 的人也许连张购物单都不会读， 或许只是不理解莎士比亚或济慈的典故。functional illiterate 一词用于描写一个具有一定程度的读写能力， 但还不到甚至在一个有限的社会环境或工作环境中运用语言所须的最低水平。最近，literacy 和 illiteracy 这两词的含义已经从它们原先与阅读和文学的联系扩展到与任何一种知识的联系。 例如，一个.地理盲.不会在地图上寻找国家，而一个.计算机盲.不会使用文字信息处理系统。literacy 和 illiteracy 的这些用法都是正确的， 但是当上下文可能导致意义混淆时还是用其它词更好一些