Forms: 1 late; the rest as in LATE a.1 [OE. late OHG. laȥ, laȥȥo slowly, lazily (comp. laȥȥôr); f. læt, lat- LATE a.1]
† 1. Slowly. (Only OE.)
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 196. Late mylt gæten flæsc.
c. 1050. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 430/15. Lento, late.
2. After the proper or usual time; at an advanced or deferred period; after delay; at a late stage or season.
a. 1000. O. E. Chron., an. 867 (Parker MS.). Late on ʓeare.
c. 1000. Juliana, 444. Ic þæt sylf ʓecneow to late micles.
a. 1200. Moral Ode, 128. Wel late he latheð uuel werc þe ne mei hit don ne mare.
c. 1200. Ormin, 753. Þatt teȝȝ swa late mihhtenn child I mikell elde streonenn.
c. 1320. Sir Tristr., 695. Fair his tale bi gan Rohand, þei he com late.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xviii. (Egipciane), 1483. Þocht at I lat turne me to þe, dere laydy, ȝet þu succure me.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Pars. T., ¶ 300. Whan he comth by thilke encheson to late to chirche.
1483. Cath. Angl., 209/2. Late ripe, serotinus, tardus.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 13. Then shal we bewaile our bondage all to late.
1598. Shaks., Merry W., II. ii. 328. Better three houres too soone, then a mynute too late.
a. 1657. Sir W. Mure, Misc. Poems, i. 127. In tyme tak heid then, least too lait thou mourne.
1766. Goldsm., Vic. W., ii. But not till too late I discovered that he was violently attached to the contrary opinion.
1862. Thackeray, Philip, xxxv. Philip had come late to dinner.
transf. 1897. W. C. Hazlitt, 4 Gen. Lit. Fam., II. 155. Byron said, her costume began too late, and ended too soon.
Proverb. c. 1386. Chaucer, Can. Yeom. Prol. & T., 857. For bet than never is late.
c. 1425. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1204. He seyde Vyce to forsake ys bettyr late then neuer.
1529. More, Suppl. Soulys, Wks. 336/2. Sith that late is better then neuer.
1708. Ockley, Saracens (1848), 222. Whilst he was murdering the unhappy Aleppians, Kaled (better late than never) came to their relief.
b. Coupled with early, († ere), soon, († rathe).
c. 1200. Ormin, 6242. Beon ar & late o ȝunkerr weorrc.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 338. Oðer ich hit do ungledliche oðer to er oðer to leate.
a. 1310. in Wright, Lyric P., xxxvi. 99. Er ant late y be thy foo.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 1318 (Trin.). Fison, gison, tigre, & eufrate Al erþe þese weten erly & late.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. X. 13. Dobet … serueþ þat ladi lelly boþe late and raþe.
c. 1425. [see ERE A 1].
1430–40. Lydg., Bochas, III. i. (1554), 69 b. Glad Pouert, late nother sone, With thy riches hath nothing to done.
1578, 1795. [see ERE A 1].
1818. Byron, Ch. Har., IV. clxxi. A weight … which crushes soon or late.
3. Of the time of day: At or till a late hour.
c. 1400. Lanfranc’s Cirurg., 189. Herwiþ þou schalt anoynte hir face at euen late.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 40. Euill lykand was the King it nichtit him sa lait.
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lvii. 8. Sum lait at evin bringis in the moreis.
1540. Bible (Great), Ps. cxxvii. 2. It is but loste laboure that ye haste to ryse up early, and so late take reste [1611 to sit vp late].
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage (1614), 210. They continue singing till late in the night.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., IV. 197. Late returning home he supp’d at Ease.
1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 74. It is dangerous to walk late for fear of falling into the Hands of those … Rascals.
1716. Addison, Freeholder, No. 22, ¶ 3. We sat pretty late over our punch.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, xv. After supper, her aunt sat late.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, xxxvii. I was up very late last night.
4. Recently, of late, lately; in recent times; not long since; but now; † not long (ago, before). Now only poet.
c. 1330. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 149. He regnes after him, and late had þe coroune.
c. 1340. Cursor M., 7917 (Trin.). Twey men were late in londe A pore and a riche wononde.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. III. 105. Ichaue a Kniht hette Conscience com late from bi-ȝonde. Ibid. (1377), B. XVI. 249. I herde seyne late Of a barne þat [etc.].
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, 4887. Noght leng sithen but late.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XIV. viii. She asked hym yf he had ete ony mete late. Nay madame truly I ete no mete nyghe this thre dayes.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, Prol. 1. A lytyl booke in frenshe, whiche late was translated oute of latyn.
1513. More, in Grafton, Chron. (1568), II. 767. The great obloquy that he was in so late before.
1530. Palsgr., 143. Naguayres, lately or late a go.
1592. Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 1131. Their vertue lost, wherein they late exceld.
1665. Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Warres, 625. The Castle … which he had late before rendred to the people of Cleves.
1677. W. Mountagu, in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.), I. 325. The sickness late upon her.
1769. Sir W. Jones, Pal. Fortune, Poems (1777), 17. The bower, which late outshone the rosy morn.
1812. Byron, Ch. Har., To Ianthe i. Those climes where I have late been straying.
1820. Keats, St. Agnes, xii. He had a fever late.
1883. R. W. Dixon, Mano, I. viii. 20. Gazing the sky which late thou seemedst to shun.
b. Not long since (but not now); recently (but no longer). (Cf. LATE a. 5 b.)
1474. Caxton, Chesse, 57. John the monke late cardynal of Rome.
1491. Act 7 Hen. VII., c. 15. John Mountagu late Erle of Sarum.
1512. Act 4 Hen. VIII., c. 10. The Domynyons … that late were to Edwarde Courteney.
1590. Spenser, F. Q., III. iii. 42. Late king, now captive; late lord, now forlorne.
1593. Shaks., Rich. II., II. i. 282. His brother Archbishop, late of Canterbury. Ibid. (1605), Ham., II. ii. 530. A clout about that head, Where late the Diadem stood.
1669. (title) The mute Christian under the Smarting Rod … By Thomas Brooks late Preacher of the Word at St. Margarets New Fish-street, London.
1706. Lond. Gaz., No. 4249/4. John Barton, late of London, Clothdrawer.
1852. Thackeray, Esmond, I. xiv. As Esmond crossed over to his own room, late the chaplain’s.
† 5. Behind the others;. in the rear. rare.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 708. Where … thou seest a single Sheep … Listlessly to crop the tender Grass, Or late to lag behind.
6. Relatively near the end of a historical period or of the history of a nation, etc.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., i. I. 22. Some faint traces of the institution of villenage were detected by the curious so late as the days of the Stuarts.
7. Comb. When qualifying a following ppl. adj., the word, like most other advs., is commonly hyphened, forming innumerable quasi-compounds, as (sense 2) late-begun, -blowing, -born, -coming, -flowering, -lamented, -lingering, -protracted; (sense 4) late-betrayed, -built, -coined, -come, -disturbed, -embarked, -filled, -found, -imprisoned, -kissed, -lost, -met, -raised, -sacked, -taken, -transformed adjs.
1651. Jer. Taylor, Serm. for Year, I. vi. 75. A … *late-begun repentance.
1591. Shaks., 1 Hen. VI., III. ii. 82. As sure as in this *late betrayed Towne, Great Cordelions Heart was buryed.
a. 1800. Cowper, Winter Nosegay, iii. The charms of the *late-blowing rose.
1881. M. Arnold, Westminster Abb., 8. Hither he came, *late-born and long-desired.
1709. Lond. Gaz., No. 4535/3. An excellent *late-built dwelling House.
1613. T. Godwin, Rom. Antiq. (1625), 29. Novi, id est, *late-coyned Nobles or vpstarts.
1639. Fuller, Holy War, II. xxix. (1647), 81. The *late-come Pilgrims.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 421. A *Late-Comming Fruit.
1596. Shaks., 1 Hen. IV., II. iii. 62. Like bubbles in a *late-disturbed Streame. Ibid. (1592), Ven. & Ad., cxxxvi. As one on shore Gazing upon a *late-embarked friend.
1884. W. C. Smith, Kildrostan, 43. At the head of a *late filled Grave.
1814. Wordsw., White Doe Ryl., IV. 86. *Late-flowering woodbine.
1855. Motley, Dutch Rep. (1861), I. 12. That noble Language which her late-flowering literature has rendered so illustrious.
1559. W. Cunningham, Cosmogr. Glasse, 169. The *late founde Ilandes.
1883. R. W. Dixon, Mano, I. iv. 8. Whilst our late found advantage all is ceased.
1725. Pope, Odyss., X. 488. Around them throng With leaps and bounds their *late-imprison’d young.
1599. Marston, Sco. Villanie, II. vi. Mato … with his *late kist-hand my booke doth grace.
1819. Shelley, Prometh. Unb., I. 608. An early-chosen, *late-lamented home.
1859. Ld. Lytton, Wanderer (ed. 2), 297. The maid, *Late-lingering in her lover’s arm.
1850. Tennyson, In Mem., xiii. 2. A *late-lost form that sleep reveals.
1631. Chapman, Cæsar & Pompey, Plays, 1873, III. 152. In our *late-met Senate.
1790. Han. More, Relig. Fash. World (1791), 211. The frequent and *late-protracted ball.
1711. Light to Blind, in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 126. Many regiments of his *late raysed army.
1593. Shaks., Lucr., ccxlix. Who like a *late-sacked island vastly stood.
a. 1586. Sidney, Arcadia, I. (1622), 42. Remembering that it was *late-taken loue, which had wrought this new course.
1725. Pope, Odyss., X. 532. Mean-while the Goddess, with indulgent cares And social joys, the *late-transform’d repairs.
