late

 
Pronunciation: /leɪt/

adjective

  • 1doing something or taking place after the expected, proper, or usual time: his late arrival she was half an hour late for her lunch appointment
  • 2belonging or taking place far on in a particular period: they won the game with a late goal an elegantly dressed woman in her late fifties
  • denoting or belonging to the advanced stage of a historical period or cultural movement: the late 1960s late Gothic style
  • far on in the day or night: I’m sorry the call is so late it’s too late for sherry
  • flowering or ripening towards the end of the season: the last late chrysanthemums
  • 3 (the/one's late) (of a specified person) no longer alive: the late Francis Bacon her late husband’s grave
  • no longer having the specified status; former: a late colleague of mine
  • 4 (latest) of most recent date: the latest news

adverb

  • 1after the expected, proper, or usual time: she arrived late
  • 2far on in time; towards the end of a period: it happened late in 1994
  • at or until a time far on in the day or night: now I’m old enough to stay up late
  • (later) at a time in the near future; soon or afterwards: I’ll see you later later on it will be easier
  • 3 (late of) formerly but not now living or working in a specified place or institution: Mrs Halford, late of the County Records Office

noun

(the latest)
  • the most recent news or fashion: have you heard the latest?

Phrases

at the latest

no later than the time specified: all new cars will be required to meet this standard by 1997 at the latest

late in the day (or North American game)

at a late stage in proceedings, especially too late to be useful: it’s a bit late in the day to go into all this

of late

recently: she’d been drinking too much of late

Origin:

Old English læt (adjective; also in the sense 'slow, tardy'), late (adverb), of Germanic origin; related to German lass, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin lassus 'weary', let1, and let2