late

[leyt] adjective, lat·er or lat·ter, lat·est or last, adverb, lat·er, lat·est.
adjective
1.
occurring, coming, or being after the usual or proper time: late frosts; a late spring.
2.
continued until after the usual time or hour; protracted: a late business meeting.
3.
near or at the end of day or well into the night: a late hour.
4.
belonging to the time just before the present moment; most recent: a late news bulletin.
5.
immediately preceding the present one; former: the late attorney general.
6.
recently deceased: the late Mr. Phipps.
7.
occurring at an advanced stage in life: a late marriage.
8.
belonging to an advanced period or stage in the history or development of something: the late phase of feudalism.
adverb
9.
after the usual or proper time, or after delay: to arrive late.
10.
until after the usual time or hour; until an advanced hour, especially of the night: to work late.
11.
at or to an advanced time, period, or stage: The flowers keep their blossoms late in warm climates.
12.
recently but no longer: a man late of Chicago, now living in Philadelphia.
00:10
Later is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
13.
of late, lately; recently: The days have been getting warmer of late.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English; Old English læt slow, late; cognate with German lass slothful, Old Norse latr, Gothic lats slow, lazy, Latin lassus tired

late·ness, noun
o·ver·late, adjective
o·ver·late·ness, noun

former, later, latter.


1. tardy; slow, dilatory; delayed, belated. 4. See modern.
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World English Dictionary
late (leɪt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  occurring or arriving after the correct or expected time: the train was late
2.  (prenominal) occurring, scheduled for, or being at a relatively advanced time: a late marriage
3.  (prenominal) towards or near the end: the late evening
4.  at an advanced time in the evening or at night: it was late
5.  (prenominal) occurring or being just previous to the present time: his late remarks on industry
6.  (prenominal) having died, esp recently: my late grandfather
7.  (prenominal) just preceding the present or existing person or thing; former: the late manager of this firm
8.  of late recently; lately
 
adv
9.  after the correct or expected time: he arrived late
10.  at a relatively advanced age: she married late
11.  recently; lately: as late as yesterday he was selling books
12.  late hours rising and going to bed later than is usual
13.  late in the day
 a.  at a late or advanced stage
 b.  too late
 
[Old English læt; related to Old Norse latr, Gothic lats]
 
usage  Since late can mean deceased, many people think it is better to avoid using this word to refer to the person who held a post or position before its present holder: the previous (not the late) editor of The Times
 
'lateness
 
n

later (ˈleɪtə) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj, —adv
1.  the comparative of late
 
adv
2.  afterwards; subsequently
3.  see you later an expression of farewell
4.  sooner or later eventually; inevitably

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

late
O.E. læt "occurring after the customary or expected time," originally "slow, sluggish," from P.Gmc. *latas (cf. O.N. latr "sluggish, lazy," M.Du., O.S. lat, Ger. laß "idle, weary," Goth. lats "weary, sluggish, lazy," latjan "to hinder"), from PIE base *lad- "slow, weary" (cf. L. lassus "faint,
weary, languid, exhausted," Gk. ledein "to be weary"). The sense of "deceased" (as in the late Mrs. Smith) is from late 15c., from an adv. sense of "recently." Of women's menstrual periods, attested colloquially from 1962. Related: Lately; lateness.

later
comp. of late. Meaning "farewell," 1954, U.S. slang, short for see you later.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

Later definition


and Late.; Laters.
  1. interj.
    Good-bye. : It's time to cruise. Later. , CU. Laters.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

later

In addition to the idiom beginning with later, also see sooner or later. Also see under late.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Example sentences
It is later found to be a neutron star-a tiny, extremely dense star.
The veggies mostly got left behind, though they got eaten later.
The main bloom period comes in early summer, but some flowers are produced later as well.
But later years may come with a diminished quality of life.
Idioms & Phrases
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