lates
Plurallates
- 1Plural of late.
The gallery's evening lates have become hugely popular with younger visitors.
Several lates across the city sold out within hours.
Note
The plural belongs to the informal noun for a late shift. It is also used for evening, after-hours events such as gallery openings. It is a regular plural in -s. The dementia acronym LATE is uncountable, so it never takes this form. Despite the shared spelling, it has nothing to do with the fish name.
- 2SayLAY-teezUS/ˈleɪtiz/UK/ˈleɪtiːz/Any of various large fish of the genus Lates, especially the Nile perch and the barramundi.
Anglers prize lates for their size, and a single Nile perch can top a hundred pounds.
The lates hunts smaller fish in the warm rivers and lakes it inhabits.
Note
The name comes from the classical world: scientific Latin, borrowed from the ancient Greek látos, the Greek name for the Nile perch, whose own origin is uncertain. The fish the Greeks named is still the genus's best-known member. With a capital, Lates names the genus; in lowercase it is the everyday name for the fish. It is unrelated to the plural of "late", which only happens to share the spelling.
lates is a form of late
late, noun: A scheduled work shift that takes place toward the end of the day or at night. Full entry
- Forms
- latelates plural
- Spelling
- late → lates: add -s
- Sound
- The ending sounds like /s/.
Use it in a sentence
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Origin
Scientific Latin, borrowed from Ancient Greek λάτος (látos, 'Nile perch'), a word of uncertain origin.