late \late\, adv. as. late. see late, a.
   1. after the usual or proper time, or the time appointed;
      after delay; as, he arrived late; -- opposed to early.
      1913 webster

   2. not long ago; lately.
      1913 webster

   3. far in the night, day, week, or other particular period;
      as, to lie abed late; to sit up late at night.
      1913 webster

   of late, in time not long past, or near the present;
      lately; as, the practice is of late uncommon.

   too late, after the proper or available time; when the time
      or opportunity is past.
      1913 webster
see also:
late early of late too late 

late \late\ l=at, a. compar. later l=at"~er, or
   latter la^t"t~er; superl. latest l=at"e^st or
   last l.ast. oe. lat slow, slack, as. laet; 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
see also:
later latter latest last let alas 
lassitude 

late
     adj 1: being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a
            usual or expected time; "late evening"; "late 18th
            century"; "a late movie"; "took a late flight"; "had a
            late breakfast" ant: early, middle
     2: after the expected or usual time; delayed; "a belated
        birthday card"; "i'm late for the plane"; "the train is
        late"; "tardy children are sent to the principal"; "always
        tardy in making dental appointments" syn: belated, tardy
     3: of the immediate past or just previous to the present time;
        "a late development"; "their late quarrel"; "his recent
        trip to africa"; "in recent months"; "a recent issue of
        the journal" syn: latea, recent
     4: having died recently; "her late husband" syn: latea
     5: of a later stage in the development of a language or
        literature; used especially of dead languages; "late
        greek" ant: early, middle
     6: at or toward an end or late period or stage of development;
        "the late phase of feudalism"; "a later symptom of the
        disease"; "later medical science could have saved the
        child" syn: latera ant: early
     7: used especially of persons of the immediate past; "the
        former president"; "our late president is still very
        active"; "the previous occupant of the white house" syn:
        formera, latea, previousa
     adv 1: later than usual or than expected; "the train arrived late";
            "we awoke late"; "the children came late to school";
            "notice came so tardily that we almost missed the
            deadline"; "i belatedly wished her a happy birthday"
            syn: belatedly, tardily ant: early
     2: to an advanced time; "deep into the night"; "talked late
        into the evening" syn: deep
     3: at an advanced age or stage; "she married late"; "undertook
        the project late in her career"
     4: in the recent past; "he was in paris recently"; "lately the
        rules have been enforced"; "as late as yesterday she was
        fine"; "feeling better of late"; "the spelling was first
        affected, but latterly the meaning also" syn: recently,
         lately, of late, latterly
see also:
early middle belated tardy latea recent 
latera formera previousa belatedly tardily 
deep recently lately of late latterly 

177 moby thesaurus words for "late":
   after time, ahead of time, anachronistic, ancient, antedated,
   arrested, asleep, asleep in jesus, at rest, back, backward,
   beforehand, behind, behind time, behindhand, belated, belatedly,
   bereft of life, blocked, breathless, bygone, called home, carrion,
   checked, cold, croaked, current, dated, dead, dead and gone,
   death-struck, deceased, deep into, defunct, delayed,
   delayed-action, demised, departed, departed this life,
   destitute of life, detained, dilatory, done for, early, erstwhile,
   exanimate, extinct, fallen, far on, finished, food for worms, fore,
   foredated, former, formerly, fresh, gone, gone to glory, gone west,
   held up, heretofore, hung up, ill-considered, ill-seasoned,
   ill-timed, immemorial, impeded, improper, in a bind, in abeyance,
   inanimate, inappropriate, inauspicious, inconvenient, inexpedient,
   infelicitous, inopportune, intempestive, intrusive, irrelevant,
   jammed, last, late lamented, lately, later, latish, latter,
   latterly, launched into eternity, lifeless, mal a propos,
   malapropos, martyred, metachronistic, misdated, mistimed, moratory,
   never on time, new, newly come, no more, none too soon, obstructed,
   of late, of yesterday, off base, old, olden, once, onetime,
   out of date, out of line, out of phase, out of season, out of time,
   overdue, parachronistic, passed on, past, past due, postdated,
   preceding, prehistoric, premature, previous, previously, primeval,
   primitive, prior, prochronistic, pushing up daisies, quondam,
   recent, recently, released, reposing, resting easy, retarded,
   sainted, set back, sleeping, slow, slowed down, smitten with death,
   sometime, still, stillborn, stopped, taken away, taken off,
   tardily, tardy, then, too late, too soon, unbefitting, unfavorable,
   unfit, unfitting, unfortunate, unhandy, unhappy, unlucky,
   unpropitious, unpunctual, unready, unripe, unseasonable,
   unsuitable, untimely, untoward, whilom, with the lord,
   with the saints, without life, without vital functions, wrong