late

Forms

lātē (comparative lātius, superlative lātissimē)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin lātus (“broad, wide”) + -ē, the adverb of that adjective.^[2][1] De Vaan derives lātus from Proto-Italic *slāto-, whose further origin is uncertain: an older view links it with Ancient Greek στέλλω (stéllō, “to make ready, dispatch”) and Old Church Slavonic стьлати (stĭlati, “to spread”), but the root of these is now reconstructed without the final laryngeal it would need; he also considers Old Irish con·slá (“goes away”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius has lātē longēque trānstrōs nostrōs fervere, “our thwarts are seething far and wide”.^[2][4] Ennius has lātē specus intus patēbat, “the cave stretched far inside”, and Plautus uses the comparative lātius.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Lātē is “over a large area, widely”, often in longē lātēque “far and wide” (Cicero: vagābitur tuum nōmen longē atque lātē, “your name will travel far and wide”), and with measurements “in breadth”.^[2][1] Figuratively it is “extensively, over a wide range”, in lātē patēre “to have a wide application”, and of speaking or writing “at length, copiously”.^[2][1] Grammarians use it of a full, broad pronunciation.^[2]

Church Latin glosses it “broadly, extensively, widely”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius: lātē longēque.^[2][4]
• 204–169 BC – Ennius: lātē specus intus patēbat.^[2][4]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero: longē atque lātē.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adverb

1. widely, over a large area;^[2][1][5] longē lātēque: far and wide.^[2][1]
2. In breadth (with measurements).^[2]
3. extensively, over a wide range;^[2][1] at length, copiously (of speaking or writing).^[2]
4. Fully, broadly (of pronunciation).^[2]

Related words

• lātus
• lātitūdō
• dīlātō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson