'analphabetic' originates from Greek, specifically the word 'analphabētos,' where 'an-' meant 'not' and 'alphabētos' meant 'alphabetic.'

'analphabētos' was adopted into Late Latin as 'analphabetus,' and eventually became the modern English word 'analphabetic.'

Initially, it meant 'not knowing the alphabet' or 'illiterate,' but it also came to mean 'not using an alphabet' in reference to writing systems.