Preliterate
ahd-5
adjective.
Of, relating to, or being a culture not having a written language.
noun.
A person belonging to such a culture.
Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
adjective.
that has not yet developed a
written
language
adjective.
who has not yet
learned
to
read
and
write
noun.
a member of such a
culture
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
adjective.
not yet having acquired the ability to read and write
adjective.
used of a society that has not developed writing
Word Usage
"In the end I found both 'preliterate' and 'preliteracy' in the 1961 edition of Webster's New International Dictionary."
Equivalent
illiterate
noncivilised
noncivilized