later1adverbat a time in the future; after the time you are talking about: See you later. His father died later that year.oppositeearlierlater on (informal) at a time in the future; after the time you are talking about: I'm going out later on.later2adjective1coming after something else or at a time in the future: The match has been postponed to a later date.2near the end of a period of time: the later part of the twentieth centuryoppositeearlier