latter

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈlæt.ə/, US /ˈlæt̬.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English lattre, lator,^[2] inherited from Old English lætra (“slower”),^[2][3][4] the comparative of læt, the source of late.^[2][4] It corresponds to Old Frisian letora, Middle High German lazzer “slower” and Old Norse latari.^[2][3] It is in essence a Middle English variant, with an unlengthened vowel, of later;^[5] modern later is a new formation of the 16th century from late and -er.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Slower, in Old English and early Middle English: about 1000 in the OED.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Belonging to a later or more advanced period is from about 1200,^[6] and forms with -tt- begin in the later 14th century.^[5] The latter end, the concluding part or the end of life, is from about 1290,^[6] and near the end of a period or of the world, as in latter days, from 1513.^[6] The sense “the second of two mentioned” is first recorded in 1555,^[2][6] and it is used with the former to avoid repetition, though incorrectly of more than two.^[5] In Scotland it meant “hindmost” in the 16th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – slower.^[6]
• c. 1200 – later.^[6]
• c. 1290 – latter end.^[6]
• 1513 – near the end.^[6]
• 1555 – the second of two.^[2][6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Being the second of two persons or things mentioned: the latter option.
2. Near or nearer to the end: the latter part of the year.
3. (archaic) Later; more recent.

Noun

1. the latter: the second of two persons or things mentioned, as opposed to the former.

Word family

• latterly
• lattermost

Related words

• latter-day
• last
• late
• later

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press