late vs later

late

adv
  • Not long ago; just now. 

  • After a deadline has passed, past a designated time. 

  • Formerly, especially in the context of service in a military unit. 

noun
  • A shift (scheduled work period) that takes place late in the day or at night. 

adj
  • Not having had an expected menstrual period. 

  • Associated with the end of a period. 

  • Levied as a surcharge on a payment received after a deadline. 

  • Deceased, dead: used particularly when speaking of the dead person's actions while alive. (Generally must be preceded by a possessive or an article, commonly "the"; see usage notes. Can itself only precede the person's name, never follow it.) 

  • Existing or holding some position not long ago, but not now; departed, or gone out of office. 

  • Specifically, near the end of the day. 

  • Recent — relative to the noun it modifies. 

  • Near the end of a period of time. 

  • Of a star or class of stars, cooler than the sun. 

  • Not arriving or occurring until after an expected time. 

later

adv
  • At some unspecified time in the future. 

  • Afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time). 

adj
  • At some time in the future. 

  • Coming afterward in distance (following an antecedent distance as embedded within an adverbial phrase) 

  • Coming afterward in time (used with than when comparing with another time). 

intj
  • See you later; goodbye. 

How often have the words late and later occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )