NYT Dictionary

LATE

/læɪt/
AdjectiveNounAdverbLAYTGrade 2

Accepted in official NYT Spelling Bee puzzle years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

Meaning

Near the end of a period of time.

Etymology

Origin: Old English

From Middle English late, lat, from Old English læt (“slow; slack, lax, negligent; late”), from Proto-West Germanic *lat, from Proto-Germanic *lataz (“slow, lazy”). By surface analysis, deverbal from let. Cognates Cognate with Yola laate (“late”), North Frisian leed, leet, lääs (“late”), Saterland Frisian leet (“late”), Dutch, German Low German laat (“late, tardy”), German lass (“lazy, sluggish”), Danish lad (“languid, lazy, indolent”), Faroese, Icelandic latur (“lazy”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lat (“lazy”), Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐍄𐍃 (lats, “lazy, slothful”).

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms

tardybelatedlyerenowfreshlylatebelatedrecentlateranachronisticancient

Antonyms

earlymidmiddle

NYT Puzzle Appearances

Accepted in 7 recorded puzzles:

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