latter English · revision 4429
15 Oct 2026, 23:18 by bogdan “en10k b0157: academic … latter” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1000|origins=ang læt}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: UK /ˈlæt.ə/, US /ˈlæt̬.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|lattre]], lator,^(Barnhart 1988) [[inh|ang|lætra|t=slower]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) the comparative of læt, the source of [[late]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) It corresponds to Old Frisian letora, Middle High German lazzer “slower” and Old Norse latari.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is in essence a Middle English variant, with an unlengthened vowel, of later;^(Etymonline) modern [[later]] is a new formation of the 16th century from late and -er.^(Barnhart 1988)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ Slower, in Old English and early Middle English: about 1000 in the OED.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ Belonging to a later or more advanced period is from about 1200,^(OED 1989) and forms with -tt- begin in the later 14th century.^(Etymonline) The ''latter end'', the concluding part or the end of life, is from about 1290,^(OED 1989) and near the end of a period or of the world, as in ''latter days'', from 1513.^(OED 1989) The sense “the second of two mentioned” is first recorded in 1555,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and it is used with ''the former'' to avoid repetition, though incorrectly of more than two.^(Etymonline) In Scotland it meant “hindmost” in the 16th century.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 1000 – slower.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1200 – later.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1290 – ''latter end''.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1513 – near the end.^(OED 1989)
+ * 1555 – the second of two.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Adjective===
+ # Being the second of two persons or things mentioned: ''the latter option''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # Near or nearer to the [[end]]: ''the latter part of the year''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+ # ''(archaic)'' Later; more recent.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)
+
+ ===Noun===
+ # ''the latter'': the second of two persons or things mentioned, as opposed to the [[former]].^(Collins 2023)^(AHD)
+
+ ==Word family==
+ * [[latterly]]
+ * [[lattermost]]
+
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[latter-day]]
+ * [[last]]
+ * [[late]]
+ * [[later]]
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}