LATE
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late¹
- /leɪt/ US, UK
- /læɪt/ Australia, New Zealand
- /let/ Scotland
- /leːt/ Wales
Rhymes with -eɪt
Where it 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”).
adjective later · latest
- 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.
- Not arriving or occurring until after an expected time. The flowers were late in blooming because of the prolonged cold weather.
- 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.
- Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office. the late bishop of London
- Recent — relative to the noun it modifies. the late war
- Of a star or class of stars, cooler than the sun.
Similar: late
noun 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.
adverb later · latest
- 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. He ſhall doe this, or elſe I doe recant / The pardon that I late pronounced heere.
Similar: tardy
LATE²
noun
- Acronym of limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a form of dementia.limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy 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.
