Analphabetism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The inability to read and, in most cases, also to write in one's native language or any language
2. The condition of being unable to read or write in any language is known as a significant barrier to communication and education
3. A lack of literacy skills renders individuals incapable of reading or writing effectively in their native or other languages

Etymology: The word is built from "analphabet" plus the suffix "-ism", and the "-ism" part is the one with the longer journey. It comes from Ancient Greek "-ισμός" (-ismós), a noun-forming ending that turned verbs ending in "-ίζω" (-ízō) into nouns of action or state. The Greek ending itself descends from older Indo-European material, but in English it simply names a condition or practice, so "analphabetism" is a state of being without letters. The base, "analphabet", is the more transparent piece. It is the Greek "analphabētos", where "an-" means "without" and "alphabētos" refers to the alphabet, named after its first two letters, alpha and beta. Adding "-ism" to the English noun "analphabet", a person who cannot read, produces a term for the condition itself. Such formations were common in English for naming states of lacking something, and this one follows the pattern of words built on the same Greek model.