| / English Dictionary |
LATE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having died recently
Example:
her late husband
Classified under:
Similar:
dead (no longer having or seeming to have or expecting to have life)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time
Example:
had a late breakfast
Classified under:
Similar:
advanced; ripe (far along in time)
after-hours (after closing time especially a legally established closing time)
latish (somewhat late)
posthumous (occurring or coming into existence after a person's death)
Attribute:
timing (the time when something happens)
Antonym:
early (at or near the beginning of a period of time or course of events or before the usual or expected time)
middle (between an earlier and a later period of time)
Derivation:
lateness (quality of coming late or later in time)
Sense 3
Meaning:
At or toward an end or late period or stage of development
Example:
later medical science could have saved the child
Synonyms:
late; later
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
advanced (comparatively late in a course of development)
tardive (late-occurring (especially with reference to symptoms of a disease))
Antonym:
early (being or occurring at an early stage of development)
Derivation:
lateness (quality of coming late or later in time)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Of a later stage in the development of a language or literature; used especially of dead languages
Example:
Late Greek
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
Modern; New (used of a living language; being the current stage in its development)
New (in use after medieval times)
Domain category:
linguistics (the scientific study of language)
Antonym:
early (of an early stage in the development of a language or literature)
middle (of a stage in the development of a language or literature between earlier and later stages)
Derivation:
lateness (quality of coming late or later in time)
Sense 5
Meaning:
(used especially of persons) of the immediate past
Example:
the previous occupant of the White House
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
past (earlier than the present time; no longer current)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Of the immediate past or just previous to the present time
Example:
a recent issue of the journal
Synonyms:
late; recent
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
past (earlier than the present time; no longer current)
Derivation:
lateness (quality of coming late or later in time)
Sense 7
Meaning:
After the expected or usual time; delayed
Example:
always tardy in making dental appointments
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unpunctual (not punctual; after the appointed time)
Derivation:
lateness (quality of coming late or later in time)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Later than usual or than expected
Example:
I belatedly wished her a happy birthday
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Antonym:
early (before the usual time or the time expected)
Sense 2
Meaning:
In the recent past
Example:
the spelling was first affected, but latterly the meaning also
Synonyms:
late; lately; latterly; of late; recently
Classified under:
Sense 3
Meaning:
To an advanced time
Example:
talked late into the evening
Synonyms:
deep; late
Classified under:
Adverbs
Sense 4
Meaning:
At an advanced age or stage
Example:
undertook the project late in her career
Classified under:
Adverbs
Context examples:
Each day the sun rose earlier and set later.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
“Perhaps you'll be a partner in Mr. Wickfield's business, one of these days,” I said, to make myself agreeable; “and it will be Wickfield and Heep, or Heep late Wickfield.”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Yes, here we are—three days later. ‘Am making successful arrangements.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
To cast in my lot with Jekyll, was to die to those appetites which I had long secretly indulged and had of late begun to pamper.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
“A moment later and they would have slain me.”
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
In that case we may be too late.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Silver paused, and I could see by the faces of George and his late comrades that these words had not been said in vain.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
A little while later she called her husband, and said to him, weeping.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
Promptly at nine o'clock the next morning the green-whiskered soldier came to them, and four minutes later they all went into the Throne Room of the Great Oz.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
Spending time in a new setting will be simply divine, and later you will replay that trip in your mind like your favorite melody.
(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)
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