late - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Middle English late, lat, from Old English læt (“slow; slack, lax, negligent; late”), from Proto-West Germanic *lat, from Proto-Germanic *lataz (“slow, lazy”). By surface analysis, deverbal from let.

Cognates

Cognate with Yola laate (“late”), North Frisian leed, leet, lääs (“late”), Saterland Frisian leet (“late”), Dutch, German Low German laat (“late, tardy”), Danish lad (“languid, lazy, indolent”), Faroese, Icelandic latur (“lazy”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lat (“lazy”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy, slothful”).

late (comparative later, superlative latest)

  1. Near the end of a period of time.
    The seedlings appeared to be coming along nicely until a late frost killed them.
    The meeting is convened for late morning.
    In Southern U.S., "evening" is used for middle to late afternoon.
  2. Specifically, near the end of the day.
    It was getting late and I was tired.
  3. (usually not comparable) Associated with the end of a period.
  4. Not arriving or occurring until after an expected time.
    Synonym: tardy
    The flowers were late in blooming because of the prolonged cold weather.
    Panos was so late that he arrived at the meeting after Antonio, who had the excuse of being in hospital for most of the night.
    The heavy snow made all the trains late.
  5. Levied as a surcharge on a payment which has not arrived by a specified deadline.
    The power company suspended late fees during the pandemic.
  6. Not having had an expected menstrual period.
    I'm late, honey. Could you buy a test?
  7. (not comparable, euphemistic) Recently deceased, dead: used particularly when speaking of the dead person's actions while alive. (Generally must be preceded by a possessive or an article, commonly "the"; see usage notes. Can itself only precede the person's name, never follow it.)
    Her late husband had left her well provided for.
    Mary was entitled to the crown by her late father’s testament.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 181:
      To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.
    • 2022 December 14, Nadia Khomami, quoting Iman, “‘He’s not my “late” husband’: Iman speaks of grief over death of David Bowie”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      “He is not my ‘late husband’. He is my husband,” she said, before discussing how the couple had managed to retain their independent identities while together.
  8. (dated) Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office.
    the late bishop of London
    the late administration
    • 1640, Edvvard Reynoldes, A Treatise of the Passions and Facvlties of the Soul of Man. With the severall Dignities and Corruptions thereunto belonging., London: […] R. H. for Robert Bostock, […]:
      By Edvvard Reynoldes, late Preacher to the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inne: And now Rector of the Church of Braunſton in Northamptonſhire.
    • 1862, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, Lady Audley's Secret:
      It was a lonely place enough, even in all its rustic beauty, for so bright a creature as the late Miss Lucy Graham, but the generous baronet had transformed the interior of the gray old mansion into a little palace for his young wife, and Lady Audley seemed as happy as a child surrounded by new and costly toys.
  9. Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.
    the late war
    • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, column 1:
      OLd Iohn of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaſter,
      Haſt thou according to thy oath and band
      Brought hither Henry Herford thy bold ſon:
      Heere to make good yͤ boiſtrous late appeale,
      Which then our leyſure would not let vs heare,
      Againſt the Duke of Norfolke, Thomas Mowbray?
    • 1914, Robert Frost, “A Hundred Collars”, in North of Boston:
      Lancaster bore him—such a little town, / Such a great man. It doesn't see him often / Of late years, though he keeps the old homestead / And sends the children down there with their mother […]
  10. (astronomy) Of a star or class of stars, cooler than the sun.

near the end of a period of time

near the end of the day

associated with the end of a period

not arriving until after an expected time — see also belated

euphemism for "dead"

recent

late (plural lates)

  1. (informal) A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.
    • 2007, Paul W Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue:
      At about 11 pm one night in Corporation Street my watch were on van patrol and Yellow Watch were on late as usual.

late (comparative later, superlative latest)

  1. After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.
    We drove as fast as we could, but we still arrived late.
  2. Formerly, especially in the context of service in a military unit.
    Colonel Easterwood, late of the 34th Carbines, was a guest at the dinner party.
    The Hendersons will all be there / Late of Pablo Fanque's Fair / What a scene!
    Linda Smith, late of 13 Oxford Street.
  3. Not long ago; just now, recently.

past a designated time

late

  1. inflection of laat:
    1. masculine/feminine singular attributive
    2. definite neuter singular attributive
    3. plural attributive

late

  1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of laten

late

  1. inflection of latar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
  2. inflection of latir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

late

  1. feminine plural of lato

From Proto-Finnic *lat'ëk, borrowed from Proto-Norse *ᚠᛚᚨᛏᛃᚨ (*flatja), from Proto-Germanic *flatją. Cognates include Finnish lattia and Livvi late.

late (genitive lattien, partitive latetta)

  1. floor

lātē (comparative lātius, superlative lātissimē)

  1. broadly, widely
  2. extensively
  3. far and wide, everywhere
  4. lavishly, excessively

From Proto-Finnic *lat'ëk, borrowed from Proto-Norse *ᚠᛚᚨᛏᛃᚨ (*flatja), from Proto-Germanic *flatją. Cognates include Finnish lattia and Karelian late.

late (genitive lattien, partitive latettu)

  1. floor
Declension of late (Type 23/päre, tt-t gradation)
singular plural
nominative late lattiet
genitive lattien lattieloin
partitive latettu lattieloi
illative lattieh lattieloih
inessive latties lattielois
elative lattiespäi lattieloispäi
allative lattiele lattieloile
adessive lattiel lattieloil
ablative lattielpäi lattieloilpäi
translative lattiekse lattieloikse
essive lattiennu lattieloinnu
abessive lattiettah lattieloittah
comitative lattienke lattieloinke
instructive lattieloin
prolative lattieči

late (Lontara spelling ᨒᨈᨙ)

  1. faded; washed out; discolored (e.g., of an old, frequently worn sarong)

From Old English læt, from Proto-West Germanic *lat.

late

  1. slow, sluggish, reluctant.

From Old English late.

late

  1. slowly, reluctantly

From Old Norse lát (“conduct, demeanour, voice, sound”, literally “let, letting, loss”) (from Proto-Germanic *lētiją (“behaviour”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēid-, *lēy- (“to leave, let”). Cognate with Middle Low German lāt (“outward appearance, gesture, manner”), Old English lǣtan (“to let”). More at let.

late

  1. Manner; behaviour; outward appearance or aspect.
  2. A sound; voice.
    • c 1275-1499, King Alexander
      Than have we liking to lithe the lates of the foules.

late

  1. definite singular and plural of lat

From Old Norse láta.

late (imperative lat, present tense later, passive lates, simple past lot, past participle latt, present participle latende)

  1. to seem, appear
  2. (also late som) to pretend

late

  1. inflection of lat:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

late (present tense lèt, past tense lét, past participle **late, passive infinitive latast, present participle latande, imperative lat)

  1. alternative form of la

From Old Norse láta.

late (present tense lèt, past tense lét, past participle **late, passive infinitive latast, present participle latande, imperative lat)

  1. to seem, appear
  2. (also late som) to pretend

Adverbial form of læt, composed with the suffix -e.

late (comparative lator, superlative latost or latest)

  1. slow(ly)
  2. late

late

  1. inflection of latir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

late

  1. inflection of latir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

late

  1. definite natural masculine singular of lat