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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

later.

comparative form of late: more late

5 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adv/ˈleɪ.tə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈleɪ.tɚ/US[ˈleɪ̯.ɾɚ]US

  1. comparative form of late: more late

    comparative · form-of
    You came in late yesterday and today you came in even later.

  2. Afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).

    My roommate arrived first. I arrived later.
    I arrived later than my roommate.

  3. At some unspecified time in the future.

    I wanted to do it now, but I’ll have to do it later.

  4. What if (something problematic or unanticipated happens); if not (something undesirable will happen).

    Manglish · Singlish
    Later you fall asleep how?
Where this word comes from

* Adverb: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lator, equivalent to late + -er. * Adjective: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lætra, equivalent to late + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian leeter (“later”), West Frisian letter (“later”), Dutch later (“later”), German Low German later (“later”).

adj/ˈleɪ.tə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈleɪ.tɚ/US[ˈleɪ̯.ɾɚ]US

  1. comparative form of late: more late

    comparative · form-of
    Jim was later than John.

  2. Coming afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).

    The Victorian era is a later period of English history than the Elizabethan era.

  3. Coming afterward in distance (following an antecedent distance as embedded within an adverbial phrase)

    I felt some leg pain during the first mile of my run and I strained my calf two miles later.

  4. At some time in the future.

    The meeting was adjourned to a later date.
Where this word comes from

* Adverb: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lator, equivalent to late + -er. * Adjective: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lætra, equivalent to late + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian leeter (“later”), West Frisian letter (“later”), Dutch later (“later”), German Low German later (“later”).

intj/ˈleɪ.tə/Received-Pronunciation/ˈleɪ.tɚ/US[ˈleɪ̯.ɾɚ]US

  1. See you later; goodbye.

    slang
    Later, dude.
Where this word comes from

* Adverb: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lator, equivalent to late + -er. * Adjective: From Middle English later, latere, from Old English lætra, equivalent to late + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian leeter (“later”), West Frisian letter (“later”), Dutch later (“later”), German Low German later (“later”).

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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.