Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Being the second of two persons or things mentioned: Between captain and major, the latter is the higher rank. See Usage Note at former2.
- adj. Near or nearer to the end: the latter part of the book.
- adj. Further advanced in time or sequence; later: a style that has been revived in latter times.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Later; more advanced or more recent; nearer to the close or to the present time: as, the latter part of the day, or of one's life; in these latter days.
- Coming after another person or thing in consideration or relation; being the second of two or of a dual division in order of existence or of mention: opposed to former: as, I prefer the latter proposition to the former.
- Last; latest; final.
Wiktionary
- adj. relating to or being the second of two items
- adj. near (or nearer) to the end
- adj. close (or closer) to the present time
- n. laughter
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Later; more recent; coming or happening after something else; -- opposed to
former . - adj. Of two things, the one mentioned second.
- adj. Recent; modern.
- adj. Last; latest; final.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. referring to the second of two things or persons mentioned (or the last one or ones of several)
- n. the second of two or the second mentioned of two
Etymologies
- Middle English, later, from Old English lætra; see lē- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The latter regarded the former as inftru - ments of power* wifliing ro pay their court to the Mother Countiyf by curbing the fpirit of American freedom* and the fornex kept a flridl eye on the latter* left they might fmooth the way to independency* at which they were charged, with aiming.”
“If my read of my neighbors plate is accurate, the latter translates as cold hash browns.”
“* It's easier to prove a global warming trend than "changing the climate" since the latter is a convoluted concept.”
“You seem to be confusing Congress exercising direct willpower over the world versus merely exercising direct willpower over itself, and the latter is actually something it can straightforwardly do.”
“But the faculty of judgment normally prevents us from falling into mere free - association mode: the latter is the stuff of paranoia and conspiracy theories.”
“Furthermore, if the latter is the case then other retailers are benefitting from Wal Mart's higher tax payments.”
The Economics of Wage Labor, Michael Munger | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
“With (500) Days, Sin Nombre and A Serious Man in competition, Precious really didn't deserve to win either best film or best director (the latter is a total joke, the directing was by far the weakest part of the movie, I mean, compare that to the job that the Coens did)”
“Luckily for us lazy Linux geeks the latter is automagically put in if you use tab auto-completion.”
“Henrik Pontén (Swedish Anti-Piracy Bureau), Monique Wadsted (movie industry lawyer) and Peter Danowsky (IFPI) – the latter is also a member of the board of the association.”
“Perhaps the single largest example of the latter is the current widespread use of social media within the Obama administration.”
The Huffington Post: Mehret Mandefro: The Revolution of Relevance
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘latter’.
-
common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
-
On with their heads!
Words that make other words with the addition of one letter at the beginning. The resulting words are tagged "behead".
men, his, yes, any, iota, limb, aged, laid, land, lead, read, word and 315 more...
qroqqa There hath he lain for ages and will lie
Battening upon huge sea-worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
—Tennyson, 'The Kraken Wakes'
In OED sense 3. a.: "last"; used here in reference to future time. It is odd that the OED doesn't use this line as a quotation for this sense. Jul 15, 2008