Latter

//ˈlæt.ə(ɹ)// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
the second of two or the second mentioned of two wordnet

Adjective

1
Relating to or being the second of two items. not-comparable
"The archaic past participle shapen is only used in misshapen, ill-shapen, and well-shapen (the latter two are much less common, though)."
2
Near (or nearer) to the end. not-comparable
"the latter part of the century"
3
In the past, but close (or closer) to the present time. not-comparable
"In his latter years my dad became very absent-minded."

Adjective

1
referring to the second of two things or persons mentioned (or the last one or ones of several) wordnet

Synonyms

closing closing eventual final foregoing hindmost

Antonyms

aforementioned aforesaid previous prior

Example

"Fish and meat are both nourishing, but the latter is more expensive than the former."

Etymology

From Old English lætra, comparative form of læt (“late”). Doublet of later; also, cognate with last, whose doublet is latest.

Related phrases

at latter Lammas latter end after former begins ell day saint day saints following one former and homophone ladder later one latter day nor former

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.