Adjacent Words

Late definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LATE, a. [This word is from the root of let, the sense of which is to draw out, extend or prolong, hence to be slow or late. See Let. This adjective has regular terminations of the comparative and superlative degrees, later, latest, but it has also latter, and latest is often contracted into last.]
1. Coming after the usual time; slow; tardy; long delayed; as a late spring; a late summer. The crops or harvest will be late.
2. Far advanced towards the end or close; as a late hour of the day. He began at a late period of his life.
3. Last, or recently in any place, office or character; as the late ministry; the late administration.
4. Existing not long ago, but now decayed or departed; as the late bishop of London.
5. Not long past; happening not long ago; recent; as the late rains. We have received late intelligence.
LATE, adv.
1. After the usual time, or the time appointed; after delay; as, he arrived late.
2. After the proper or usual season. This year the fruits ripen late.
3. Not long ago; lately.
And round them throng with leaps and bounds the late imprison'd young.
4. Far in the night, day, week, or other particular period; as, to lie a-bed late; to sit up late at night.
Of late, lately, in time not long past, or near the present. The practice is of late uncommon.
Too late, after the proper time; not in due time. We arrived too late to see the procession.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time; "late evening"; "late 18th century"; "a late movie"; "took a late flight"; "had a late breakfast" [ant: early, middle]
2: after the expected or usual time; delayed; "a belated birthday card"; "I'm late for the plane"; "the train is late"; "tardy children are sent to the principal"; "always tardy in making dental appointments" [syn: belated, late, tardy]
3: of the immediate past or just previous to the present time; "a late development"; "their late quarrel"; "his recent trip to Africa"; "in recent months"; "a recent issue of the journal" [syn: late, recent]
4: having died recently; "her late husband"
5: of a later stage in the development of a language or literature; used especially of dead languages; "Late Greek" [ant: early, middle]
6: at or toward an end or late period or stage of development; "the late phase of feudalism"; "a later symptom of the disease"; "later medical science could have saved the child" [syn: late, later] [ant: early]
7: (used especially of persons) of the immediate past; "the former president"; "our late President is still very active"; "the previous occupant of the White House" [syn: former, late, previous] adv
1: later than usual or than expected; "the train arrived late"; "we awoke late"; "the children came late to school"; "notice came so tardily that we almost missed the deadline"; "I belatedly wished her a happy birthday" [syn: late, belatedly, tardily] [ant: ahead of time, early, too soon]
2: to an advanced time; "deep into the night"; "talked late into the evening" [syn: deep, late]
3: at an advanced age or stage; "she married late"; "undertook the project late in her career"
4: in the recent past; "he was in Paris recently"; "lately the rules have been enforced"; "as late as yesterday she was fine"; "feeling better of late"; "the spelling was first affected, but latterly the meaning also" [syn: recently, late, lately, of late, latterly]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective (later; latest) Etymology: Middle English, late, slow, from Old English læt; akin to Old High German laz slow, Old English l?tan to let Date: before 12th century 1. a. (1) coming or remaining after the due, usual, or proper time <a late spring> (2) of, relating to, or imposed because of tardiness b. of or relating to an advanced stage in point of time or development <the late Middle Ages>; especially far advanced toward the close of the day or night <late hours> 2. a. living comparatively recently ; now deceased — used of persons <the late John Doe> and often with reference to a specific relationship or status <his late wife> b. being something or holding some position or relationship recently but not now <the late belligerents> c. made, appearing, or happening just previous to the present time especially as the most recent of a succession <our late quarrel> Synonyms: see dead • lateness noun II. adverb (later; latest) Date: before 12th century 1. a. after the usual or proper time <got to work late> b. at or to an advanced point of time 2. not long ago ; recently <a writer late of Chicago>

U.S. Military Dictionary

(*) In artillery and naval gunfire support, a report made to the observer or spotter, whenever there is a delay in reporting "shot" by coupling a time in seconds with the report.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & adv. --adj. 1 after the due or usual time; occurring or done after the proper time (late for dinner; a late milk delivery). 2 a far on in the day or night or in a specified time or period. b far on in development. 3 flowering or ripening towards the end of the season (late strawberries). 4 (prec. by the or my, his, etc.) no longer alive or having the specified status (my late husband; the late president). 5 of recent date (the late storms). --adv. 1 after the due or usual time (arrived late). 2 far on in time (this happened later on). 3 at or till a late hour. 4 at a late stage of development. 5 formerly but not now (late of the Scillies). Phrases and idioms: at the latest as the latest time envisaged (will have done it by six at the latest). late in the day colloq. at a late stage in the proceedings, esp. too late to be useful. late Latin Latin of about AD 200-600. the latest the most recent news, fashion, etc. (have you heard the latest?). Derivatives: lateness n. Etymology: OE læt (adj.), late (adv.) f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Late Late, adv. [AS. late. See Late, a.] 1. After the usual or proper time, or the time appointed; after delay; as, he arrived late; -- opposed to early. 2. Not long ago; lately. 3. Far in the night, day, week, or other particular period; as, to lie abed late; to sit up late at night. Of late, in time not long past, or near the present; lately; as, the practice is of late uncommon. Too late, after the proper or available time; when the time or opportunity is past.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Late Late, a. [Compar. Later, or latter; superl. Latest.] [OE. lat slow, slack, AS. l[ae]t; akin to OS. lat, D. laat late, G. lass weary, lazy, slack, Icel. latr, Sw. lat, Dan. lad, Goth. lats, and to E. let, v. See Let to permit, and cf. Alas, Lassitude.] 1. Coming after the time when due, or after the usual or proper time; not early; slow; tardy; long delayed; as, a late spring. 2. Far advanced toward the end or close; as, a late hour of the day; a late period of life. 3. Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; lately deceased, departed, or gone out of office; as, the late bishop of London; the late administration. 4. Not long past; happening not long ago; recent; as, the late rains; we have received late intelligence. 5. Continuing or doing until an advanced hour of the night; as, late revels; a late watcher.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(later, latest) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Late means near the end of a day, week, year, or other period of time. It was late in the afternoon... She had to work late at night... His autobiography was written late in life... The case is expected to end late next week... ? early ADV: ADV with cl, ADV prep/n • Late is also an adjective. The talks eventually broke down in late spring... He was in his late 20s. ...the late 1960s. ADJ: ADJ n 2. If it is late, it is near the end of the day or it is past the time that you feel something should have been done. It was very late and the streets were deserted... We've got to go now. It's getting late. ADJ: v-link ADJ • lateness A large crowd had gathered despite the lateness of the hour. N-UNCOUNT 3. Late means after the time that was arranged or expected. Steve arrived late... The talks began some fifteen minutes late... We got up late. ADV: ADV after v, oft amount ADV • Late is also an adjective. His campaign got off to a late start... We were a little late... The train was 40 minutes late... He's a half hour late. ADJ: oft amount ADJ • lateness He apologised for his lateness. 4. Late means after the usual time that a particular event or activity happens. We went to bed very late... He married late. ADV: ADV after v • Late is also an adjective. They had a late lunch in a cafe... He was a very late developer. ADJ: ADJ n 5. You use late when you are talking about someone who is dead, especially someone who has died recently. ...my late husband. ...the late Mr Parkin. ADJ: det ADJ 6. Someone who is late of a particular place or institution lived or worked there until recently. (FORMAL) ...Cousin Zachary, late of Bellevue Avenue. ...Strobe Talbott, late of Time magazine. ADJ: v-link ADJ of n 7. see also later, latest 8. If you say better late than never when someone has done something, you think they should have done it earlier. It's been a long time coming but better late than never. CONVENTION 9. If you say that someone is doing something late in the day, you mean that their action or behaviour may not be fully effective because they have waited too long before doing it. I'd left it all too late in the day to get anywhere with these strategies. PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl 10. If an action or event is too late, it is useless or ineffective because it occurs after the best time for it. It was too late to turn back... We realized too late that we were caught like rats in a trap. PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR with v 11. a late night: see night

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Slow, tardy, long delayed. 2. Far advanced. 3. Recently deceased. 4. Recent. II. ad. 1. Tardily, after the proper time, at the eleventh hour, a day after the fair. 2. Recently, lately, not long ago, sometime, sometime since.

Moby Thesaurus

after time, ahead of time, anachronistic, ancient, antedated, arrested, asleep, asleep in Jesus, at rest, back, backward, beforehand, behind, behind time, behindhand, belated, belatedly, bereft of life, blocked, breathless, bygone, called home, carrion, checked, cold, croaked, current, dated, dead, dead and gone, death-struck, deceased, deep into, defunct, delayed, delayed-action, demised, departed, departed this life, destitute of life, detained, dilatory, done for, early, erstwhile, exanimate, extinct, fallen, far on, finished, food for worms, fore, foredated, former, formerly, fresh, gone, gone to glory, gone west, held up, heretofore, hung up, ill-considered, ill-seasoned, ill-timed, immemorial, impeded, improper, in a bind, in abeyance, inanimate, inappropriate, inauspicious, inconvenient, inexpedient, infelicitous, inopportune, intempestive, intrusive, irrelevant, jammed, last, late lamented, lately, later, latish, latter, latterly, launched into eternity, lifeless, mal a propos, malapropos, martyred, metachronistic, misdated, mistimed, moratory, never on time, new, newly come, no more, none too soon, obstructed, of late, of yesterday, off base, old, olden, once, onetime, out of date, out of line, out of phase, out of season, out of time, overdue, parachronistic, passed on, past, past due, postdated, preceding, prehistoric, premature, previous, previously, primeval, primitive, prior, prochronistic, pushing up daisies, quondam, recent, recently, released, reposing, resting easy, retarded, sainted, set back, sleeping, slow, slowed down, smitten with death, sometime, still, stillborn, stopped, taken away, taken off, tardily, tardy, then, too late, too soon, unbefitting, unfavorable, unfit, unfitting, unfortunate, unhandy, unhappy, unlucky, unpropitious, unpunctual, unready, unripe, unseasonable, unsuitable, untimely, untoward, whilom, with the Lord, with the saints, without life, without vital functions, wrong