illiteracy

Il*lit"er*a*cy, n.; pl. Illiteracies. Etym: [From Illiterate.] 1. The state of being illiterate, or uneducated; want of learning, or knowledge; ignorance; specifically, inability to read and write; as, the illiteracy shown by the last census. 2. An instance of ignorance; a literary blunder. The many blunders and illiteracies of the first publishers of his [Shakespeare's] works. Pope.

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