Ladder or latter?
ladder is a noun meaning “A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and…”; latter is an adjective meaning “Near (or nearer) to the end”. Use ladder as a noun and latter as an adjective (latter is also a noun: “The second of aforementioned two items”). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) latter is about 3.4 times as common as ladder.
What is the difference between ladder and latter?
| ladder | latter | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | adjective, noun |
| Meaning | A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or… A series of stages by which one progresses to a better position To arrange or form into a shape of a ladder | Near (or nearer) to the end In the past, but close (or closer) to the present time The second of aforementioned two items |
| Example | Oh damn it, I've laddered my tights! | the latter part of the century |
| Forms | ladders | none |
| Pronunciation | /ˈlad.ə/ /ˈlæd.ɚ/ [ˈlæɾ.ɚ] | /ˈlæt.ə(ɹ)/ /ˈlæt.ɚ/ [ˈlæɾ.ɚ] |
| In writing | 11 times per million words | 36 times per million words |
Sources: ladder and latter in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of ladder and latter
ladder
- 1
A frame, usually portable, of wood, metal, or rope, used for ascent and descent, consisting of two side pieces to which are fastened rungs (cross strips or rounds acting as steps)
- 2
To arrange or form into a shape of a ladder
- 3
A series of stages by which one progresses to a better position
- 4
To ascend (a building, a wall, etc.) using a ladder
- 5
The hierarchy or ranking system within an organization, such as the corporate ladder
- 6
Of a knitted garment: to develop a ladder as a result of a broken thread
Oh damn it, I've laddered my tights!
- 7
UKA length of unravelled fabric in a knitted garment, especially in nylon stockings; a run
- 8
UKslangTo close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary
latter
- 1
Near (or nearer) to the end
the latter part of the century
- 2
The second of aforementioned two items
The archaic past participle shapen is only used in misshapen, ill-shapen, and well-shapen (the latter two are much less common, though)
- 3
In the past, but close (or closer) to the present time
In his latter years my dad became very absent-minded
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, ladder or latter?
ladder appears 11 times per million words; latter 36 times per million words.
ladder 11 times per million wordslatter 36 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search ladder vs latter?
“ladder vs latter” is searched about 2,400 times a month on Google and 70 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“latter vs ladder”, “ladder or latter”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.