Definition of "preliterate" [preliterate]

• Of, relating to, or being a culture not having a written language. (adjective)
• A person belonging to such a culture. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "In the end I found both 'preliterate' and 'preliteracy' in the 1961 edition of Webster's New International Dictionary."
• "Neither 'preliterate' nor 'preliteracy' are registered in the 1942 Chicago Dictionary of American English."
• "The 1949 edition of the Funk and Wagnall New Standard Dictionary lists 'preliterate' only."