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Added 30 September 2026

late

/leɪt/ adjective

In Latin: tardus Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about late at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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.
Associated with the end of a period.
Late Latin is less fully inflected than Classical Latin.

noun

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

adverb

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.
Not long ago; just now, recently.

Origin

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”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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