Skip to the word

Added 8 October 2026

latter

/ˈlæt.ə(ɹ)/ adjective

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

Near (or nearer) to the end.
the latter part of the century
In the past, but close (or closer) to the present time.
In his latter years my dad became very absent-minded.

noun

The second of aforementioned two items.
The archaic past participle shapen is only used in misshapen, ill-shapen, and well-shapen (the latter two are much less common, though).

Origin

From Middle English latter, lattere, lattre, from Old English lætra, comparative form of læt (“late”). Equivalent to late + -er, thus a doublet of later; also, related to last, whose doublet is latest.

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

Back to today's word