Word.ws English Dictionary

lat

UK/lɑːt/US/lɑt/

lat noun: a staff, particularly one of an Indian kind. Also the clipping of latitude.

Noun (1)

lat (plural lats)

  1. (rare) A staff, particularly one of an Indian kind.
  2. A monumental pillar, particularly the Buddhist columns erected in East India.
    • A high pillar of stone called Bheem-lat, or the Tealee, or oilman's lat or staff.1801, “Miscellaneous Tracts”, in Asiatic Annual Register, page 313

Noun (2)

lat (plural lats)

  1. (UK, plural-normally, slang) A latrine: a rudimentary or military facility for urination and defecation.
    • At Salisbury Plain and Camberley in 1909/10 I learnt a number of camping expressions like... lats (latrines).1927, William Edward Collinson, Contemporary English, page 92
    • Other synonyms [sc. for lavatories] are rears, lats... and dubs.1940, M. Marples, Public School Slang, page 112

Noun (3)

lat (plural lats)

  1. (historical) The gold-backed monetary unit of Latvia from August 1922 until April 1941, when it was replaced by the Soviet ruble; it was typically pegged at about 25 to the British pound.
  2. (historical) The floating fiat monetary unit of Latvia from 1992 until January 2014, when it was replaced by the euro.
  3. A coin or bill of either currency.

Noun (4)

lat (plural lats)

  1. (plural-normally, slang) A latissimus dorsi muscle.

Proper noun capitalized: LAT

LAT

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Los Angeles Times.
  2. The station code of Lam Tin in Hong Kong.

Noun (5) capitalized: LAT

LAT (plural LATs)

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of lowest astronomical tide.
  2. (US, abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of laboratory animal technician.
  3. (abbreviation, acronym) Acronym of large air tanker, a class of waterbomber.
  4. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of living apart together, describing a couple who live at different addresses.
    • Those who study these couples, who are part of a group known as LATs (living apart together), agree that their numbers are on the rise, though figures are hard to come by, according to Ms. Lindemann.2020 May 16, Jennifer Altmann, “Married but Living Far Apart”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Adjective capitalized: LAT

LAT (not comparable)

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of living apart together, describing people in an intimate relationship who live at different addresses.
    • My stepmother, aware of trends, told us we would be “LAT,” for “living apart together,” referring to couples that choose to live separately — even far apart — while remaining committed.2018 June 22, Glen David Gold, “Staying Together by Living Apart (in a Duplex)”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

Also used as

lat is also the clipping of latitude.

lat meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali and Telugu

lat in Hindi

लैट

lat in Marathi

लॅट

lat in Bengali

ল্যাট, লাট

lat in Telugu

లాత్
More languagesFewer languages
lat in Malayalam
ലാറ്റ്, ലാത്
lat in Kannada
ಲ್ಯಾಟ್
lat in Odia
ଲାଟ୍, ଲାତ୍
lat in Nepali
ल्याट, लात, लाट

Synonyms of lat

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of lat

Forms of lat

plurallats
alternative formlât
alternative formlāt
alternative formlath
pluralLATs

Plural of lat: lats

Origin of lat

Borrowed from Hindi लाट (lāṭ, “pillar; minaret; staff, club”), लाठ (lāṭh, “long staff; cudgel”), etc.

Clipping of latrine.

Borrowed from Latvian lats, a clipping of Latvija (“Latvia”).

Words formed from lat

Phrases with lat

Words that rhyme with lat

6 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about lat

What does lat mean?
Lat means a staff, particularly one of an Indian kind.
What is lat in Hindi?
Lat in Hindi is लैट. See Lat meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is lat?
Lat can be a noun, a proper noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce lat?
Lat is pronounced /lɑːt/ (UK).
What is the plural of lat?
The plural of lat is lats.

Words near lat in the dictionary

  1. Laswells
  2. lasya
  3. lasyas
  4. Laszlo
  5. Laszlos
  6. lat
  7. lat pulldown
  8. lat pulldowns
  9. lat sahib
  10. lat sahibs
  11. lat.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lat (page history and authors); LAT (page history and authors); lat (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lat (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lat (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lat (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lat (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lat (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lat (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); lat (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-lat.ogg.

Cite this entry: “lat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.