late

Meanings

1. 1
   adv

   later than usual or than expected

   the train arrived late

2. 2
   adv

   at an advanced age or stage

   I am always told by friends that I married pretty late.

3. 3
   adj

   being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time

   late evening

4. 4
   adj

   at or toward an end or late period or stage of development

   the late phase of feudalism

5. 5
   adj

   Near the end of a period of time.

   The seedlings appeared to be coming along nicely until a late frost killed them.

6. 6
   adj

   Specifically, near the end of the day.

   It was getting late and I was tired.

7. 7
   adj

   Associated with the end of a period.

   Late Latin is less fully inflected than classical Latin.

8. 8
   adj

   Not arriving or occurring until after an expected time.

   The flowers were late in blooming because of the prolonged cold weather.

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”).