Word of the Day

: December 25, 2006

belated

adjective bih-LAY-tud

What It Means

1 : delayed beyond the usual time

2 : existing or appearing past the normal or proper time

belated in Context

Susan called Jim on Christmas and told him he'd be receiving a belated gift from her.

Did You Know?

Long ago, there was a verb "belate," which meant "to make late." From the beginning, "belate" tended to mostly turn up in the form of its past participle "belated." Eventually, "belate" itself fell out of use, leaving behind "belated" as an adjective that preserved the original notion of delay. As you may have guessed, "belate" and its descendant "belated" derive from the adjective "late"; "belate" was formed by simply combining the prefix "be-" ("to cause to be") with "late."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.