late

A1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /leɪt/ UK /leɪt/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like let /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/ Sounds like laith /θ/ vs /t/

Freq #374

Meanings

1

adj
Arriving or happening after the expected time.

The train was late again this morning.
2

adv
After the usual or expected time.

We stayed up late talking.
3

adj
Near the end of a period of time or the day.

It was getting late, so we went home.
4

adj
Used to refer to someone who has died, especially recently.

She inherited the house from her late husband.

Word forms

The same word in different grammatical forms.

Adjective

These comparisons describe timing. They do not apply to late meaning deceased.

Base form: late
We booked a late flight.
Comparative: later
We changed to a later flight.
Superlative: latest
We booked the latest flight available that evening.

Use the comparative to compare two things or actions. Use the superlative for the highest or lowest degree in a group.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · arriving or happening after... tardy

2 adv · after the usual or expected... belatedly

More formerly recently

Opposites

early mid middle

Word family

Related forms overdue

Appears in

Phrases (3)

See all

Proverbs (9)

See all

Simplified etymology

Late comes from Old English, as does its antonym early.

Etymology

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”), Danish lad (“languid, lazy, indolent”), Faroese, Icelandic latur (“lazy”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lat (“lazy”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy, slothful”).

late Middle English læt Old English *lat Proto-West Germanic *lataz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# late

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** adj, adv
**IPA (US):** /leɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /leɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 374

## Meanings
1. Arriving or happening after the expected time.
2. After the usual or expected time.
3. Near the end of a period of time or the day.
4. Used to refer to someone who has died, especially recently.

## Examples
- The train was late again this morning.
- We stayed up late talking.
- It was getting late, so we went home.
- She inherited the house from her late husband.

## Synonyms
- belatedly
- formerly
- recently
- tardy

## Antonyms
- early
- mid
- middle

## Related Forms
- overdue

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: late
- Root: læt
- Root: *lat
- Root: *lataz

## Etymology
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”), Danish lad (“languid, lazy, indolent”), Faroese, Icelandic latur (“lazy”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lat (“lazy”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy, slothful”).

## AI Etymology
Late comes 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. Cognate with Yola laate (“late”), North Frisian leed, leet, lääs (“late”), Saterland Frisian leet (“late”), Dutch, German Low German laat (“late, tardy”), Danish lad (“languid, lazy, indolent”), Faroese, Icelandic latur (“lazy”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lat (“lazy”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy, slothful”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern adverbial form is built from the named base and affix.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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