analphabetic an·al·pha·bet·ic [an-al-fuh-bet-ik, an-al-]
adjective
1. not alphabetic: an analphabetic arrangement of letters.
2. unable to read or write; illiterate: analphabetic peoples.
3. Phonetics . of or constituting a system of phonetic transcription, as the one devised by Otto Jespersen, that for each sound indicates by separate sets of symbols the articulator, the point of articulation, and the size and shape of the mouth opening.
noun
4. an illiterate person; analphabet.
A new word for me (and my spell checker, which has this word and its derivations underlined), but to be honest, I never would have guessed its meaning. I would've said it was someone who had to make sure all their letters were written at the same height and spacing...but that's because I saw the "anal" part first.
2 comments:
Mike, I love new or seldom used words. I subscribe to the Daily Vocabula. They send a little email newsletter five days a week with a seldom used word, a sample of elegant English and an example of incorrect usage. Fun stuff!
I'll have to check that out, Jean. I get my Words of the Day from the module in the right hand column; I don't post them every day, just the ones I'm not familiar with or I think or funny or have some meaning to me.
Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible source of magic. Capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it.
-Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter)
Thanks f/ posting!
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