late.
Near the end of a period of time.
Meaning & usage
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.
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?
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
Of a star or class of stars, cooler than the sun.
Where this word comes from
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”).
A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night.
Where this word comes from
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”).
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.
Where this word comes from
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”).
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.