late

English Online Dictionary. What means late‎? What does late mean?

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /leɪt/
• Rhymes: -eɪt

Adjective

late (comparative later, superlative latest)

1. Near the end of a period of time.

2. Specifically, near the end of the day.

3. (usually not comparable) Associated with the end of a period.

4. Not arriving or occurring until after an expected time.

5. Levied as a surcharge on a payment which has not arrived by a specified deadline.

6. Not having had an expected menstrual period.
7. (not comparable, euphemistic) 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.)
   • Order 3(ca)(i), Public Order (Prohibited Areas) Order 2009 (G.N. S 490/2009)

     The following public assemblies and public processions are excluded from the prohibition in paragraph 2: […] any public assembly or public procession in an open space that is held primarily to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew […]
8. Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office.
9. Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.
10. (astronomy) Of a star or class of stars, cooler than the sun.

Usage notes

• (deceased): Late in this sense qualifies named individuals (in phrases like the late Mary Smith). In this sense, it generally is confined to usage with the person's full name, or a title, relationship, etc., that would be adequate by itself to identify the person: the late Mary Smith; the late queen; his late wife; the late Mary, Queen of Scots; but in most cases not the late Mary.

Translations

Noun

late (plural lates)

1. (informal) A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.

Antonyms

• early

Adverb

late (comparative later, superlative latest)

1. After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.

2. Formerly, especially in the context of service in a military unit.

4. Not long ago; just now, recently.

Synonyms

• (past a designated time): belatedly; see also Thesaurus:belatedly
• (formerly): erenow; see also Thesaurus:formerly
• (not long ago): freshly; see also Thesaurus:recently

Translations

Derived terms

References

• 2009 April 3, Peter T. Daniels, "Re: Has 'late' split up into a pair of homonyms?", message-ID <bdb13686-a6e4-43cd-8445-efe353365394@l13g2000vba.googlegroups.com>, alt.usage.english and sci.lang, Usenet.

Anagrams

• teal, tael, et. al, atel-, TEAl, Elta, TEAL, et al, Teal, tale, tela, leat, EATL, ETLA, et al.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaːtə/

Adjective

late

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

Verb

late

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

Galician

Verb

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

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.te/
• Rhymes: -ate
• Hyphenation: là‧te

Adjective

late

1. feminine plural of lato

Anagrams

• alte, tale, tela

Karelian

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑte/
• Hyphenation: la‧te

Noun

late (genitive lattien, partitive latetta)

1. floor

References

• P. M. Zaykov et al. (2015) “пол”, in Venäjä-Viena Šanakirja [Russian-Viena Karelian Dictionary], →ISBN

Latin

Adverb

lātē (comparative lātius, superlative lātissimē)

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

Related terms

• lātus

References

• “late”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “late”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.

Livvi

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑtʲe/
• Hyphenation: la‧te
• Rhymes: -ɑtʲe

Noun

late (genitive lattien, partitive latettu)

1. floor

Declension

References

• Tatjana Boiko (2019) “late”, in Suuri Karjal-Venʹalaine Sanakniigu (livvin murreh) [The Big Karelian-Russian dictionary (Livvi dialect)], 2nd edition, →ISBN

Middle English

Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

• laite, latte, lete, leate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laːt/, /lat/

Adjective

late

1. slow, sluggish, reluctant.

Derived terms

• latly

Descendants

• English: late
• Geordie English: lyet
• Scots: late
• Yola: laate

References

• “lāt(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old English late.

Alternative forms

• lata, laite, latte, lete, læte, leate

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaːt(ə)/

Adverb

late

1. slowly, reluctantly

Descendants

• English: late
• Yola: laate

References

• “lāt(e, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

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.

Noun

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.

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

Adjective

late

1. definite singular and plural of lat

Etymology 2

From Old Norse láta.

Verb

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

Derived terms

• årelate

References

• “late” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²lɑːtə/

Adjective

late

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

Etymology 2

Verb

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

1. Alternative form of la

Etymology 3

From Old Norse láta.

Alternative forms

• lata

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²lɑːtə/

Verb

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

Derived terms

• årelate

References

• “late” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑ.te/

Adverb

late (comparative lator, superlative latost)

1. slow(ly)
2. late

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ati

Verb

late

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

Spanish

Verb

late

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

Swedish

Adjective

late

1. definite natural masculine singular of lat

Anagrams

• leta