. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
you have here. The definition of the word
will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
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
Adjective
late (comparative later, superlative latest)
- Near the end of a period of time.
The seedlings appeared to be coming along nicely until a late frost killed them.
- Specifically, near the end of the day.
It was getting late and I was tired.
- (usually not comparable) Associated with the end of a period.
Late Latin is less fully inflected than classical Latin.
- Not arriving or occurring until after an expected time.
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.
- Levied as a surcharge on a payment which has not arrived by a specified deadline.
The power company suspended late fees during the pandemic.
- Not having had an expected menstrual period.
I'm late, honey. Could you buy a test?
- (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.)
Her late husband had left her well provided for.
The piece was composed by the late Igor Stravinsky.
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.
- 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
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:“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.
- 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.
- Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.
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 Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , 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 […]
- (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
near the end of a period of time
- Afrikaans: laat (af)
- Albanian: i vonë (sq)
- Arabic: مُتَأَخِّر (mutaʔaḵḵir)
- Armenian: ուշ (hy) (uš)
- Aromanian: tãrdzãu, tãrdziu
- Azerbaijani: gec (az)
- Bashkir: һуң (huñ)
- Belarusian: по́зні (pózni)
- Bulgarian: къ́сен (bg) (kǎ́sen)
- Burmese: နှောင်း (my) (hnaung:)
- Catalan: tard (ca)
- Chinese:
- Eastern Min: 遲/迟 (dì)
- Mandarin: 晚 (zh) (wǎn)
- Czech: pozdní (cs)
- Dalmatian: tierč
- Danish: sen (da)
- Dutch: laat (nl)
- Faroese: síðla, seint
- Finnish: myöhäinen (fi)
- French: tard (fr)
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: spät (de)
- Gothic: 𐍃𐌴𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 (seiþus)
- Greek: αργά (el) (argá)
- Haitian Creole: ta
- Hebrew: מאוחר \ מְאֻחָר (m'ukhár)
- Hindi: देर (hi) (der)
- Hungarian: késő (hu), késői (hu), kései (hu)
- Icelandic: seint (is) n
- Ingrian: mööhä
- Interlingua: tarde
- Italian: tardo (it)
- Japanese: 晩い (ja) (おそい, osoi)
- Kazakh: кеш (keş)
- Khmer: យឺត (km) (yɨɨt)
- Korean: 늦다 (ko) (neutda)
- Kyrgyz: кеч (ky) (kec)
- Lao: ຊ້າ (sā)
- Latin: tardus (la)
- Latvian: vēls (lv), sebu (dated), sebs (dated)
- Lithuanian: vėlus m, vėlyvas
- Low German: laat, loot
- German Low German: late (nds) (Vest Recklinghausen)
- Macedonian: доцен (docen)
- Malay: lambat (ms)
- Mauritian Creole: tar
- Norwegian: sein (no)
- Old English: læt
- Persian: دیر (fa) (dir)
- Polish: późny (pl) m
- Portuguese: tarde (pt)
- Romanian: târziu (ro)
- Romansch: tard
- Russian: по́здний (ru) (pózdnij)
- Salar: uda
- Sardinian: taldu, tardu
- Saterland Frisian: leet
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ка̏сан
- Roman: kȁsan (sh)
- Slovak: neskorý
- Slovene: pôzen
- Southern Altai: соҥ (soŋ)
- Spanish: tarde (es)
- Swedish: sen (sv)
- Tajik: дер (tg) (der)
- Thai: สาย (th) (sǎai)
- Turkish: geç (tr)
- Turkmen: giç
- Ukrainian: пі́зній (uk) (píznij)
- Urdu: دیر (der)
- Uzbek: kech (uz)
- Vietnamese: muộn (vi), trễ (vi)
- Walloon: tård (wa)
- Yiddish: שפּעט (shpet)
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associated with the end of a period
not arriving until after an expected time
- Afrikaans: laat (af)
- American Sign Language: OpenB@NearSideTrunkhigh-PalmBack Nod
- Arabic: مُتَأَخِّر m (mutaʔaḵḵir)
- Moroccan Arabic: مْعطّل m (mʕəṭṭəl)
- Armenian: ուշ (hy) (uš)
- Aromanian: tãrdziu
- Azerbaijani: ərəzən, savar (of fruits)
- Belarusian: по́зні (pózni), запо́знены (zapóznjeny)
- Bengali: দেরী (bn) (derī), দিরঙ্গ (dirôṅgô), দেরেঙ্গ (bn) (dereṅgô)
- Bulgarian: закъснял (bg) (zakǎsnjal)
- Burmese: နောက်ကျ (my) (naukkya.)
- Dalmatian: tierč
- Esperanto: malfrua
- Faroese: seinur (fo)
- Finnish: myöhässä (fi) (adverb)
- French: en retard (fr)
- Old French: tart
- Georgian: please add this translation if you can
- German: verspätet (de)
- Greek: αργά (el) (argá), αργοπορημένος (el) m (argoporiménos)
- Hebrew: מאחר (meaḥér)
- Hungarian: későn (hu), késik (hu), elkésik (hu), késésben van
- Indonesian: terlambat (id), telat (id), kasip (id)
- Ingrian: mööhä
- Italian: in ritardo (it)
- Japanese: 晩い (ja) (osoi), 遅れた (ja) (okureta)
- Korean: 지각 (ko) (jigak)
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: tardatus, sērus (la)
- Macedonian: доцен (docen), задоцнет (zadocnet)
- Malay: lewat (ms)
- Maori: tūreiti, tōmuri, takaroa, akutō
- Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
- Old English: læt
- Plautdietsch: lot
- Polish: spóźniony (pl) m
- Portuguese: atrasado (pt)
- Romanian: târziu (ro)
- Russian: по́здний (ru) (pózdnij), запозда́лый (ru) (zapozdályj)
- Slovene: pôzen
- Spanish: atrasado (es)
- Swedish: sen (sv), försenad (sv)
- Tagalog: gutoy
- Thai: สาย (th) (sǎai)
- Ukrainian: запізні́лий (zapiznílyj), пі́зній (uk) (píznij)
- Vietnamese: trể
- Volapük: latik (vo)
- Walloon: tårdou (wa) m
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not having had an expected menstrual period
euphemism for "dead"
- Afrikaans: oorlede (af)
- Arabic: مَرْحُوم (marḥūm)
- Armenian: ողորմածիկ (hy) (oġormacik)
- Azerbaijani: mərhum, rəhmətlik
- Bashkir: мәрхүм (mərxüm)
- Bengali: মরহুম (bn) (môrhum)
- Bulgarian: покоен (pokoen), починал (bg) (počinal)
- Catalan: difunt (ca)
- Chichewa: malemu
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 已故 (zh) (yǐ gù / ㄧˇㄍㄨˋ)
- Danish: salig
- Dutch: wijlen (nl)
- Esperanto: forpasinta
- Faroese: sáli
- Finnish: edesmennyt (fi); -vainaa (fi), -vainaja (fi)
- French: défunt (fr) m, feu (fr), regretté (fr) m, regrettée (fr) f
- Galician: defunto (gl), que foi (archaic)
- Georgian: ცხონებული (cxonebuli)
- German: verstorben (de), selig (de)
- Greek: μακαρίτης (el) m (makarítis)
- Hebrew: מנוח (he) (manóaḥ)
- Hindi: स्वर्गीय (hi) (svargīya)
- Hungarian: néhai (hu)
- Icelandic: heitinn
- Indonesian: almarhum (id) m, almarhumah (id) f, mendiang (id)
- Italian: fu (it), defunto (it)
- Japanese: 故 (ja) (ko), 亡き (naki)
- Latin: abortus
- Latvian: nelaiķis
- Lithuanian: velionis
- Macedonian: покоен (pokoen)
- Malay: (for Muslims) allahyarham m, allahyarhamah f, (non-Muslims) mendiang (ms)
- Norwegian: som har gått bort, som har gått fra oss
- Bokmål: avdød
- Nynorsk: avdød
- Polish: zmarły (pl) m, świętej pamięci (pl)
- Portuguese: falecido (pt) m
- Russian: поко́йный (ru) (pokójnyj), усо́пший (ru) (usópšij)
- Scottish Gaelic: nach maireann
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: покојан m
- Roman: pokojan m
- Spanish: difunto (es)
- Swahili: marehemu (sw)
- Swedish: avliden (sv), framliden (sv), hädangången (sv)
- Tatar: märxüm
- Turkish: rahmetli, merhum (tr)
- Ukrainian: покі́йний (pokíjnyj)
- Yao: malemu
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existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now
Noun
late (plural lates)
- (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.
Antonyms
Adverb
late (comparative later, superlative latest)
- After a deadline has passed, past a designated time.
We drove as fast as we could, but we still arrived late.
- 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!
- Not long ago; just now, recently.
c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 181, column 1:He ſhall doe this, or elſe I doe recant / The pardon that I late pronounced heere.
1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, , →OCLC, Canto XIII, page 20:Tears of the widower, when he sees
A late-lost form that sleep reveals,
And moves his doubtful arms, and feels
Her place is empty, fall like these; […]
Synonyms
Translations
past a designated time
- Afrikaans: laat (af)
- Arabic: مُتَأَخِّرًا (mutaʔaḵḵiran)
- Aromanian: ntardu, tardu
- Azerbaijani: gec (az)
- Bashkir: һуң (huñ)
- Basque: berandu
- Belarusian: по́зна (pózna)
- Bengali: দেরী (bn) (derī), দিরঙ্গ (dirôṅgô), দেরেঙ্গ (bn) (dereṅgô)
- Bulgarian: къ́сно (bg) (kǎ́sno)
- Catalan: tard (ca)
- Chinese:
- Eastern Min: 迟 (di)
- Mandarin: 晚 (zh) (wǎn), 遲/迟 (zh) (chí), (be late) 遲到/迟到 (zh) (chídào)
- Czech: pozdě (cs)
- Danish: sen (da)
- Dutch: laat (nl)
- Esperanto: malfrue
- Estonian: hilja
- Finnish: myöhään (fi), myöhässä (fi)
- French: tard (fr)
- Old French: tart
- Georgian: გვიან (gvian)
- German: spät (de)
- Greek: αργά (el) (argá)
- Ancient: ὀψέ (opsé)
- Hindi: देर से (hi) (der se)
- Hungarian: későn (hu)
- Icelandic: seinn (is)
- Ido: tarda (io)
- Ingrian: mööhää
- Italian: tardi (it)
- Japanese: 遅刻に (ja) (ちこくに, chikoku ni), 遅く (ja) (おそく, osoku)
- Kazakh: кеш (keş)
- Khmer: យឺតពេល (yɨɨt peil)
- Korean: 늦다 (ko) (neutda), (be late) 지각하다 (jigakhada)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: درەنگ (ckb) (dreng)
- Northern Kurdish: derneg, gîro (ku), texîr (ku)
- Lao: please add this translation if you can
- Latin: sērō (la), tarde (la)
- Latvian: vēlu
- Lithuanian: vėlai
- Lower Sorbian: pózdźe
- Macedonian: доцна (docna)
- Occitan: tard (oc)
- Old English: late
- Old Norse: síðla
- Persian: دیر (fa) (dir)
- Polish: późno (pl)
- Portuguese: tarde (pt)
- Romanian: târziu (ro)
- Russian: по́здно (ru) (pózdno)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ка̏сно, позно
- Roman: kȁsno (sh), pozno (sh)
- Slovak: neskoro
- Slovene: pôzno (sl)
- Southern Altai: кеч (keč)
- Spanish: tarde (es)
- Swedish: sent (sv), för sent (sv)
- Telugu: ఆలస్యంగా (ālasyaṅgā)
- Turkish: geç (tr)
- Ukrainian: пі́зно (pízno)
- Urdu: دیر سے (der se)
- Yiddish: שפּעט (shpet)
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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
- EATL, ETLA, Elta, TEAL, TEAl, Teal, et al, et al., leat, tael, tale, teal, tela
Dutch
Pronunciation
Adjective
late
- inflection of laat:
- masculine/feminine singular attributive
- definite neuter singular attributive
- plural attributive
Verb
late
- (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of laten
Galician
Verb
late
- inflection of latar:
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive
- third-person singular imperative
- inflection of latir:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Italian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈla.te/
- Rhymes: -ate
- Hyphenation: là‧te
Adjective
late
- feminine plural of lato
Anagrams
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)
- 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)
- broadly, widely
- extensively
- far and wide, everywhere
- lavishly, excessively
Related terms
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, London: Macmillan and Co.
- the twigs are shooting out, spreading: rami late diffunduntur
- to have a wide extent: late patere (also metaphorically vid. sect. VIII. 8)
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
Noun
late (genitive lattien, partitive latettu)
- 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
Pronunciation
Adjective
late
- slow, sluggish, reluctant.
Derived terms
Descendants
References
Etymology 2
From Old English late.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Adverb
late
- slowly, reluctantly
Descendants
References
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
- Manner; behaviour; outward appearance or aspect.
- 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
- 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)
- to seem, appear
- (also late som) to pretend
Derived terms
References
- “late” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology 1
Pronunciation
Adjective
late
- inflection of lat:
- definite singular
- plural
Etymology 2
Verb
late (present tense lèt, past tense lét, past participle late, passive infinitive latast, present participle latande, imperative lat)
- Alternative form of la
Etymology 3
From Old Norse láta.
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
Verb
late (present tense lèt, past tense lét, past participle late, passive infinitive latast, present participle latande, imperative lat)
- to seem, appear
- (also late som) to pretend
Derived terms
References
- “late” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
Old English
Etymology
Adverbial form of læt, composed with the suffix -e.
Pronunciation
Adverb
late (comparative lator, superlative latost)
- slow(ly)
- late
Portuguese
Pronunciation
Verb
late
- inflection of latir:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Spanish
Verb
late
- inflection of latir:
- third-person singular present indicative
- second-person singular imperative
Swedish
Adjective
late
- definite natural masculine singular of lat
Anagrams