late
/leɪt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/læɪt/
late adjective: near the end of a period of time.
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.
- The meeting is convened for late morning.
- Specifically, near the end of the day.
- It was getting late and I was tired.
- 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.
- Synonyms:
- tardy
- 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?
- I am very worried. I am never late.1992 February 5, Larry Charles, Elaine Pope, “The Fix-Up”, in Seinfeld, spoken by Cynthia (Maggie Wheeler)
- 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.
- 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
- Recent — relative to the noun it modifies.
- the late war
- 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?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...
- Of a star or class of stars, cooler than the sun.
Noun (1)
late (plural lates)
- A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.
- At about 11 pm one night in Corporation Street my watch were on van patrol and Yellow Watch were on late as usual.2007, Paul W Browning, The Good Guys Wear Blue
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.
- Synonyms:
- belatedly
- 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!
- Synonyms:
- erenow
- Not long ago; just now, recently.
- He ſhall doe this, or elſe I doe recant / The pardon that I late pronounced heere.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[ward]...
- 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; […]1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XIII”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 20
- Synonyms:
- freshly
Noun (2) capitalized: LATE
LATE (uncountable)
- Acronym of limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a form of dementia.
- We describe a recently recognized disease entity, limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE). LATE neuropathological change (LATE-NC) is defined by a stereotypical TDP-43 proteinopathy in older adults, with or without coexisting hippocampal sclerosis pathology.2019 June, Peter T Nelson et al., “Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy (LATE): consensus working group report”, in Brain, volume 142, number 6, →DOI, page 1503
- The clinical entity LATE (limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy) has recently emerged.2020 March, Daniel Ferreira, Agneta Nordberg, Eric Westman, “Biological subtypes of Alzheimer disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis”, in Neurology, volume 94, number 10, →DOI
late meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
late in Hindi
- near the end of a period of time
- देर der
- euphemism for "dead"
- स्वर्गीय svargīya, दिवंगत divaṅgat
- past a designated time
- देर से
late in Tamil
- not arriving until after an expected time
- லேட் lēṭ, லேட்டு lēṭṭu, தாமதம் tāmatam
late in Marathi
- उशीर
late in Urdu
- near the end of a period of time
- دیر der
- past a designated time
- دیر سے
More languagesFewer languages
- late in Bengali
- দেরি deri, দেরী derī, দিরঙ্গ dirôṅgô, দেরেঙ্গ dereṅgô
- late in Telugu
- ఆలస్యంగా ālasyaṅgā
- late in Malayalam
- വൈകി
- late in Kannada
- ತಡವಾಗಿ
- late in Punjabi
- ਦੇਰ ਨਾਲ
- late in Gujarati
- મોડું moḍũ, દેર der
- late in Tagalog
- gutoy
- late in Arabic
- مُتَأَخِّر mutaʔaḵḵir, مَرْحُوم marḥūm, مُتَأَخِّرًا mutaʔaḵḵiran
- late in Malay
- lambat, lewat, allahyarham, allahyarhamah
- late in Indonesian
- terlambat, telat, kasip, almarhum
- late in Persian
- دیر dir
- late in Thai
- ดึก dʉ̀k, สาย sǎai
- late in Vietnamese
- muộn, trễ, trể
- late in Myanmar
- နှောင်း hnaung:, နောက်ကျ naukkya.
Examples of late in a sentence
- In Southern U.S., "evening" is used for middle to late afternoon.
- The heavy snow made all the trains late.
- Linda Smith, late of 13 Oxford Street.
- Mark’s late wife, Gemma, was an educator as well.2022 February 18, Dan Erickson, “Good News About Hell”, in Severance, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Ricken (Michael Chernus):
- By Edvvard Reynoldes, late Preacher to the Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inne: And now Rector of the Church of Braunſton in Northamptonſhire.1640, Edvvard Reynoldes, A Treatise of the Passions and Facvlties of the Soul of Man. With the severall Dignities and Corruptions thereunto...
- It doesn't see him often / Of late years, though he keeps the old homestead / And sends the children down there with their mother[…]1914, Robert Frost, “A Hundred Collars”, in North of Boston:
Synonyms of late
Antonyms
Forms of late
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | later |
| superlative | latest |
| Noun | |
| plural | lates |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | later |
| superlative | latest |
Origin of late
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”), German lass (“lazy, sluggish”), Danish lad (“languid, lazy, indolent”), Faroese, Icelandic latur (“lazy”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lat (“lazy”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy, slothful”).
Words formed from late
- a day late and a dollar short
- alate
- as of late
- belate
- be late
- better late than never
- better to be late than be dead on time
- casually late
- day late, dollar short
- early and late
- fashionably late
- get late
- it's never too late to mend
- it's too late for sorry
- keep someone up late
- late antique
- late antiquity
- late binding
- late blight
- late bloomer
- late-blooming
- late-bound
- late-breaking
- late capitalism
- late-capitalist
- late capitalist
- latecomer
- latecoming
- lated
- late effect
- late fee
- late harvest
- late innings
- late in the day
- late in the game
- lateish
- late lamented
- lately
- late model
- late modern
- late modernity
- lateness
- late-night
- late night
- late on
- lateover
- late pass
- late position
- later
- late riser
- lateshit
- latesome
- late-stage capitalism
- late stage capitalism
- late tackle
- late talker
- late-term
- late-to-bedder
- late to the ball
- late to the game
Phrases with late
- is late
- of late
- got late
- ran late
- run late
- too late
- was late
- been late
- gets late
- late fees
- runs late
- being late
34 more phrasesFewer phrases
- Late Greek
- Late Latin
- gotten late
- late nights
- late passes
- Late Period
- late risers
- getting late
- Late Aramaic
- late effects
- late tackles
- late talkers
- running late
- late bloomers
- Late Egyptian
- stays up late
- late lamenteds
- sorry I'm late
- stayed up late
- Late Bronze Age
- staying up late
- late capitalisms
- Late Middle Ages
- late to the party
- Late Modern English
- late unpleasantness
- Late Middle Egyptian
- too little, too late
- late unpleasantnesses
- two thousand and late
- better late then never
- Late Heavy Bombardment
- Late Bronze Age collapse
- you'll be late for your own funeral
Words that rhyme with late
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- mate
- bate
- create
- date
- relate
- vibrate
- wait
- deflate
- fate
- migrate
- rebate
- rotate
- strait
- supererogate
- translocate
- await
- eight
- freight
- skate
- alternate
- collate
- debate
- inflate
- sedate
- update
- compensate
- delate
- dilate
- fixate
- grate
- Haight
- hate
- implicate
- innate
- intercalate
- locate
- mandate
- negate
- overweight
- pinnate
- quadrate
- tate
- vacate
- aerate
- calibrate
- castrate
- conflate
- crate
Questions about late
- What does late mean?
- Late means near the end of a period of time.
- What is late in Hindi?
- Late in Hindi is देर (der), स्वर्गीय (svargīya), दिवंगत (divaṅgat). See Late meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use late in a sentence?
- In Southern U.S., "evening" is used for middle to late afternoon.
- What part of speech is late?
- Late can be an adjective, a noun or an adverb.
- How do you pronounce late?
- Late is pronounced /leɪt/ (UK).
Words near late in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: late (page history and authors); LATE (page history and authors); late (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); late (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); late (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); late (Punjabi, 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-us-late.ogg, En-uk-late.ogg.
Cite this entry: “late.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/late. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.