latter

latter
Late Late (l[=a]t), a. [Compar. {Later} (l[=a]t"[~e]r), or {latter} (l[a^]t"t[~e]r); superl. {Latest} (l[=a]t"[e^]st) or {Last} (l[.a]st).] [OE. lat slow, slack, AS. l[ae]t; akin to OS. lat, D. laat late, G. lass weary, lazy, slack, Icel. latr, Sw. lat, Dan. lad, Goth. lats, and to E. let, v. See {Let} to permit, and cf. {Alas}, {Lassitude}.] 1. Coming after the time when due, or after the usual or proper time; not early; slow; tardy; long delayed; as, a late spring. [1913 Webster]

2. Far advanced toward the end or close; as, a late hour of the day; a late period of life. [1913 Webster]

3. Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; recently deceased, departed, or gone out of office; as, the late bishop of London; the late administration. [1913 Webster]

4. Not long past; happening not long ago; recent; as, the late rains; we have received late intelligence. [1913 Webster]

5. Continuing or doing until an advanced hour of the night; as, late revels; a late watcher. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • latter — [ late ] v. tr. <conjug. : 1> • 1288; de latte ♦ Garnir de lattes. Latter un plafond. Latter à lattes jointives, à claire voie. ● latter verbe transitif Garnir quelque chose de lattes. latter v. tr. d1./d Garnir de lattes. d2./d Arg. Donner …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Latter — Lat ter, a. [OE. later, l[ae]tter, compar. of lat late. See {Late}, and cf. {Later}.] 1. Later; more recent; coming or happening after something else; opposed to {former}; as, the former and latter rain. [1913 Webster] 2. Of two things, the one… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • latter — Latter. v. a. Garnir de lattes. Cette maison est couverte, le comble est mis, il ne reste plus qu à latter, il la faut latter …   Dictionnaire de l'Académie française

  • latter — ► ADJECTIVE 1) nearer to the end than to the beginning. 2) recent: in latter years. 3) (the latter) denoting the second or second mentioned of two people or things. ORIGIN Old English, «slower»; related to LATE(Cf. ↑lateness) …   English terms dictionary

  • latter — [lat′ər] adj. [ME lattre < OE lættra, compar. of læt: it represents the orig. compar. form; LATER is a new formation] 1. alt. compar. of LATE 2. a) later; more recent b) nearer the end or close [the latter part of M …   English World dictionary

  • latter — index before mentioned, subsequent Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • latter — (adj.) O.E. lætra slower, comparative of læt late (see LATE (Cf. late) (adj.)). Sense of second of two first recorded 1550s. The modern LATER (Cf. later) is a formation from mid 15c …   Etymology dictionary

  • latter — [adj] latest, concluding closing, eventual, final, following, hindmost, lag, last, last mentioned, later, modern, rearmost, recent, second, terminal; concepts 585,799 Ant. earliest, former, preceding …   New thesaurus

  • latter — former, latter 1. These two words are used individually or contrastively (as the former and the latter) to refer to the first and second respectively of two people or things previously mentioned; in this role they are used attributively (before a …   Modern English usage

  • latter — 01. Whereas the former proposal is more costly, the [latter] one would take much more time. 02. Nervousness about Y2K computer problems grew considerably in the [latter] half of 1999. 03. My grandfather had always been very healthy, but his mind… …   Grammatical examples in English

  • latter — lat|ter [ lætər ] function word *** Latter can be used in the following ways: as an adjective (only before a noun): the latter half of 1996 He considered his students either geniuses or idiots, and I fell into the latter category. as a pronoun… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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