latter dayn.adj.
/ˌlatə ˈdeɪ/, U.S. /ˈlædər ˌdeɪ/ Now somewhat literary or archaic.
A. n.
1. Chiefly in plural with possessive or of. The concluding period of a person's life, the history of an institution, a city, etc. Also in singular: †the day of a person's death (obsolete).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > end or conclusion > [noun] > the latter part
eveningOE
enda1200
eventide?c1225
finea1350
tail1377
latter (last) enda1382
issue1484
latter day?1498
waning1561
last days1572
heel1584
sunsetting1593
fall1596
lag-end1598
posterior1598
sunset1599
dotage1606
exit1615
stern1623
waning timea1639
last1683
heel piecea1764
shank1828
tail-end1845
tailpiece1869
tag1882
teatime1913
end-point1921
?1498 J. Alcock In die Innocencium Sermo (de Worde) sig. biijv/1 Multeplye thy good lyf and holy dysposycyon in thy latter dayes.
1513 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid ii. v. 93 We fey peple..Quham till this was the dulefull lettir day [L. quibus ultimus esset ille dies].
?1521 J. Fisher Serm. agayn Luther sig. D.iiv In the latter dayes of ye chirche some shall go from ye true faythe.
a1547 Earl of Surrey tr. Virgil Certain Bks. Aenæis (1557) ii. sig. Biii The later day and fate of Troy is come.
1596 J. Dalrymple tr. J. Leslie Hist. Scotl. (1888) I. 86 In thir lattir dayes..is sa brocht to passe, that in the people is gretter constancie.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary ii. 45 The crown of his head was in his latter dayes somthing bald, as the forepart naturally curled.
1699 J. Oldmixon Refl. on Stage 86 The virtue of those times..would not endure the disorders of the Roman Theatre, in the latter days of Augustus.
1798 S. Porter tr. A. von Kotzebue Lovers' Vows v. ii. 101 His mother shall enjoy her latter days in all the comfort she can receive.
a1817 W. Muir Poems (1818) 286 Go reader and pray, That at thy latter day, such an epitaph candour may write.
1817 S. T. Coleridge Biographia Literaria I. ii. 36 Milton, in his latter day, had his scorners and detractors.
1861 Christian Reformer Jan. 28 Many artizans..had assembled to receive the communion according to the mode in use in the latter days of King Edward VI.
1910 R. Nevill Sporting Days & Sporting Ways vii. 208 Cribb's latter days were not very prosperous.
1965 London Mag. Sept. 95/1 Constance Wilde passed her latter days in a Genoese villa.
2005 D. L. Berry Pictures of Islam v. 88 In the latter days of the [Abbasid] empire, the vizier became the true power.
2. In Christianity and some other religions. With the.
a. In plural. The period including and immediately preceding the Last Judgement or end of the world.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [noun] > concluding period
lattera1470
latter day1528
last times1611
the world > existence and causation > existence > non-existence > [noun] > ending of existence > the last judgement > last days
last daya1400
lattera1470
latter day1528
last times1611
1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. lxjv In the later dayes some shall departe from the fayth gevinge hede vnto sprites of errore and develish doctrine.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Jer. xxiii. 20 In the latter dayes ye shall knowe his meanynge.
1603 A. Dent Ruine of Rome xiv. 246 But heere it will be obiected, that in the latter daies iniquitie shall haue the vpper hand.
1691 T. Tryon Pythagoras his Mystick Philos. Reviv'd xi. 205 The current of the Scripture bears Testimony to a greater Light to break forth in the latter dayes.
1753 Earnest & Serious Addr. Freeholders & Electors Great Brit. 18 Afterwards shall the children of Israel..fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days.
1808 Connecticut Evangelical Mag. Mar. 90/1 We find that every apostolical prediction, relative to the latter days, speaks of certain superstitious practices.
1883 R. W. Dixon Mano i. iv. 11 This sign moreover doth St. John transmit, That in the latter days we shall be tricked By Satan's legates.
1961 B. R. Wilson Sects & Society i. 24 The real significance of the gifts is that they are a sign of the latter days.
2009 Relig. & Lit. 41 189 By the early 70s, the ‘turn to religion’—allegedly not to occur until these latter days—was already in swing.
b. In singular. The day of the Last Judgement; the end of the world. Also more fully latter day of judgement. Now somewhat rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > Bible, Scripture > biblical events > Second Coming > [noun] > apocalypse
world's endeOE
dayOE
doomsdayc975
world-endOE
'pocalypseOE
last dayc1275
judgementa1325
assize1340
Great Dayc1350
accounta1400
day of retributiona1400
latter day1533
Judgement Day1544
audit1548
after-reckoning1567
revelation-day1654
Fifth monarchy1655
long account1665
account day1671
kingdom come1858
the last (also final, great) round-up1879
eschaton1935
1533 J. Gau tr. C. Pedersen Richt Vay sig. Givv The propheit Malachias vritis of our lord Iesus Christis cuming apone the later day.
1588 A. King tr. P. Canisius Cathechisme or Schort Instr. 15 In the letter day of iudgment.
1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lvi. 124 That life which shall make them glorious at the later day.
1640 T. Carew Poems 185 If you let her goe she may, Antedate the latter day.
1727 L. Welsted Hymn to Creator 6 Sure, with these Eyes, to resurvey His Darling at the latter Day.
1795 Evangelical Mag. Oct. 416 The promises and prophecies, which respect the glory of the latter day.
1887 C. D. Bell Gleanings from Tour 265 The glories of the latter day, The dawn of an Eternal Spring.
1916 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Jrnl.-Gaz. 8 May 8/5 At the latter day..the entire flock of Christ's sheep..will be separated from the goats, the unbelievers.
1988 C. McWilliam Case of Knives (1989) viii. 68 Cackling in the wardrobe, choosing clothes in which she might rise up at the latter day.
3. In plural. Later or more modern times; the present or most recent period.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > newness or novelty > recency > [noun] > recent times
yesterdaya1382
latter days1549
last age1678
1549 Bk. Common Prayer (STC 16267) f. xxv*v The great excesse..of them [sc. ceremonies] hathe so encreased in these latter dayes, that the burden of them was intollerable.
1730 S. Prichard Masonry Dissected (ed. 2) 6 In these latter Days Masonry is not composed of Artificers, as it was in its primæval State.
1864 G. A. Sala in Daily Tel. 15 Aug. One of the most Xenophontic little books that has seen the light within these latter days.
1887 T. A. Trollope What I Remember II. iv. 66 Readers who are not in such a tearing hurry as the unhappy world is in these latter days.
1930 Methodist Rev. Mar. 288/2 In these latter days such questions are omitted from the church ritual.
1994 Asian Times 5 Nov. 16/2 Whether it was the Romans, the Greeks or in latter days us British, the colonial history of countries gives them little to be proud of.
2009 S. Cohen After End of Hist. Introd. 26 How should we see the novel, then, and particularly the historical novel, in these latter days?
B. adj. Usually with hyphen.
1. Belonging to the latter days; of or relating to the end of the world.
ΚΠ
1660 N. S. Epist. from London to Countrey 3 This Kingdom being nigh at hand, when the latter day signes are upon us.
1677 F. Bampfield All in One 165 How may a Believer now..grow up into the spirituality and heavenliness of the duties and priviledges of the later-day glory?
1725 R. Bragge Brief Ess. conc. Soul of Man 36 The Dawn of Latter-day Glory will be preceded by the blackest Shadows of Latter-day Darkness.
?1784 J. Ryland Life Alfred the Great 38 He had a power of rolling down in his apprehensions, into the latter day glory, with lively imagination.
1870 J. H. Bradley Some Exam. Theory Spiritualism xvii. 108 If, I say, they will but study these great latter-day signs.
1907 Church Q. Rev. Oct. 26 Armageddon implied Antichrist, and all the latter-day woes and final victory of good over evil described in the Apocalypse.
2005 D. Cook tr. M. Da'ud in Contemp. Muslim Apoc. Lit. 186 The parents of the Antichrist will die without knowing that their child is..the master of the latter-day tribulation.
2. Belonging to (more) recent times; modern. Frequently designating a person, event, etc., regarded as the contemporary equivalent of a historical counterpart.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the present (time) > [adjective] > modern
modern1585
new-schoolish1844
New World1847
latter day1850
contemporary1859
unantiquated1859
todayish1864
contemporaneous1871
modernistic1878
presentist1878
up to date1888
down to date1893
up-with-the-times1893
de nos jours1909
up to the minute1909
chromium-plate1924
chromium-plated1924
contempo1944
now1955
New Wave1960
nouveau1974
1850 T. Carlyle (title) Latter-day Pamphlets.
1855 A. Trollope Warden xiv. 222 The painting of some of these latter-day pictures [sc. of the Pre-Raphaelite School].
1872 B. Gray Cakes & Ale at Woodbine xxvi. 151 Wisely hath a latter-day Solomon said: ‘Better is a new bonnet on the head of a wife, than shoes and stockings on the feet of children.’
1884 Manch. Examiner 29 Feb. 5/3 The whole circumstances were thoroughly mediæval from a latter-day English point of view.
1908 Daily Chron. 31 July 4/3 The foolish virgins, with their oilless lamps, have found a latter-day analogue in the petrolless taxi-cabby.
1957 T. Kilmartin tr. R. C. F. Aron Opium of Intellectuals 119 This is an admirable piece of philosophical double-think, typical of our latter-day intelligentsia.
2008 M. Fiorato Glassblower of Murano xiii. 147 She returned home triumphant with her booty like a latter-day Marco Polo.
Compounds
Latter-day Saint n. (frequently in plural) a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (cf. church n.1 and adj. Phrases 4d); a Mormon.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Protestantism > Mormonism > [noun] > person > collective
Latter-day Saint1832
Mormon Church1838
Mormondom1845
Mormonry1930
1832 Evening & Morning Star July 30/2 (heading) Extract of covenants for the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
1834 Evening & Morning Star Apr. The latter day saints speak of living and reigning with Christ a thousand years.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 22/1 Neither the Latter-day Saints, nor any similar sect, have made converts among the costermongers.
1988 H. Mantel Eight Months on Ghazzah St. ii. 256 He filled in the form for his visa, and where it said Religion he put Latter-Day Saint.
2011 R. L. Neilson Exhibiting Mormonism v. 148 The Latter-day Saints had long bemoaned the negative portrayals of their faith..in the press and public opinion.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.?1498