Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Late \Late\, adv. [AS. late. See {Late}, a.]
   1. After the usual or proper time, or the time appointed;
      after delay; as, he arrived late; -- opposed to {early}.

   2. Not long ago; lately.

   3. Far in the night, day, week, or other particular period;
      as, to lie abed late; to sit up late at night.

   {Of late}, in time not long past, or near the present;
      lately; as, the practice is of late uncommon.

   {Too late}, after the proper or available time; when the time
      or opportunity is past.



   9. Denoting the agent, or person by whom, or thing by which,
      anything is, or is done; by.

            And told to her of [by] some.         --Chaucer.

            He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of
            all.                                  --Luke iv. 15.

            [Jesus] being forty days tempted of the devil.
                                                  --Luke iv. 1,
                                                  2.

   Note: The use of the word in this sense, as applied to
         persons, is nearly obsolete.

   10. Denoting relation to place or time; belonging to, or
       connected with; as, men of Athens; the people of the
       Middle Ages; in the days of Herod.

   11. Denoting passage from one state to another; from. [Obs.]
       ``O miserable of happy.'' --Milton.

   12. During; in the course of.

             Not be seen to wink of all the day.  --Shak.

             My custom always of the afternoon.   --Shak.

   Note: Of may be used in a subjective or an objective sense.
         ``The love of God'' may mean, our love for God, or
         God's love for us.

   Note: From is the primary sense of this preposition; a sense
         retained in off, the same word differently written for
         distinction. But this radical sense disappears in most
         of its application; as, a man of genius; a man of rare
         endowments; a fossil of a red color, or of an hexagonal
         figure; he lost all hope of relief; an affair of the
         cabinet; he is a man of decayed fortune; what is the
         price of corn? In these and similar phrases, of denotes
         property or possession, or a relation of some sort
         involving connection. These applications, however all
         proceeded from the same primary sense. That which
         proceeds from, or is produced by, a person or thing,
         either has had, or still has, a close connection with
         the same; and hence the word was applied to cases of
         mere connection, not involving at all the idea of
         separation.

   {Of consequence}, of importance, value, or influence.

   {Of late}, recently; in time not long past.

   {Of old}, formerly; in time long past.

   {Of one's self}, by one's self; without help or prompting;
      spontaneously.

            Why, knows not Montague, that of itself England is
            safe, if true within itself?          --Shak.

Source : WordNet®

of late
     adv : in the recent past; "he was in Paris recently"; "lately the
           rules have been enforced"; "as late as yesterday she
           was fine"; "feeling better of late"; "the spelling was
           first affected, but latterly the meaning also" [syn: {recently},
            {late}, {lately}, {latterly}]