What does later mean?

Definitions for later
ˈleɪ tərlat·er

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word later.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. later(a), ulterior, posterioradjective

    coming at a subsequent time or stage

    "without ulterior argument"; "the mood posterior to"

  2. late, later(a)adverb

    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"

  3. subsequently, later, afterwards, afterward, after, later onadverb

    happening at a time subsequent to a reference time

    "he apologized subsequently"; "he's going to the store but he'll be back here later"; "it didn't happen until afterward"; "two hours after that"

  4. by and by, lateradverb

    at some eventual time in the future

    "By and by he'll understand"; "I'll see you later"

  5. lateradverb

    comparative of the adverb `late'

    "he stayed later than you did"

Wiktionary

  1. lateradverb

    Afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).

  2. lateradverb

    At some unspecified time in the future.

    I wanted to do it now, but I'll have to do it later.

  3. lateradjective

    Coming afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time).

    The Victorian era is a later period of English history than the Elizabethan era.

  4. lateradjective

    At some time in the future.

    The meeting was adjourned to a later date.

  5. laterinterjection

    See you later; goodbye.

    Later, dude.

  6. laterinterjection

    Dismissive term to minimize importance of an annoying persons.

  7. Etymology: late + -er

ChatGPT

  1. later

    Later refers to a point in time that is subsequent to the current moment or to a previous mentioned point in time. It implies a delay or postponement of an action or event.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Laternoun

    a brick or tile

  2. Lateradjective

    compar. of Late, a. & adv

  3. Etymology: [L.]

The Roycroft Dictionary

  1. later

    The Utopia of Postponement; a marvelous door of gold at the end of every perspective, to which Procrastination holds the keys. The Concierge of tomorrow. (Some things are done sooner, others are done now, but most things are done later; hence, manana, dreams and regrets.)

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. LATER

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Later is ranked #62714 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Later surname appeared 319 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Later.

    94.3% or 301 total occurrences were White.
    2.1% or 7 total occurrences were Black.
    1.8% or 6 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    1.5% or 5 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'later' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #267

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'later' in Written Corpus Frequency: #494

  3. Adverbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'later' in Adverbs Frequency: #44

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for later »

  1. ratel

  2. taler

  3. alert

  4. alter

  5. artel

  6. telar

How to pronounce later?

How to say later in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of later in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of later in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of later in a Sentence

  1. Bubba Watson:

    It seems like I play pretty good on the West Coast and then, when West Coast gets hot and later in the year, I kind of struggle, i always get excited about the West Coast... I just get excited about the New Year and the new season starting.

  2. Xu Qin:

    We used money from investors who came later to pay the interest owed to earlier investors, it was actually an extremely typical Ponzi scheme.

  3. Ivan Reitman:

    I remember flashes of scenes, later they told me about how they gave me a couple of sleeping pills so I wouldn’t make any noise. I was so knocked out that I slept with my eyes open. My parents were afraid I was dead.

  4. Edward McLaughlin:

    If there’s a way to recapture a guy’s life, isn’t that an appropriate thing to try? it's not like I flipped a coin. I didn't have a crystal ball, and I did not know what would happen a year later.

  5. Dejan Stojanovic:

    There is only as much space, only as much time, only as much desire, only as many words, only as many pages, only as much ink to accept all of us at light-speed hurrying into the Promised Land of oblivion that is waiting for us sooner or later.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

later#1#944#10000

Translations for later

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

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"later." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 11 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/later>.

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