latter
/ˈlæt.ɚ/adjective, noun
latter is spelled L-A-T-T-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “ladder vs latter” about 2,400 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, latter means “Near (or nearer) to the end” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in latter?
| Letters | 6: L-A-T-T-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 36 times per million words; the 2,669th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is latter?
Latter appears 36 times per million words in written English, the 2,669th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce latter?
- /ˈlæt.ə(ɹ)/
- US /ˈlæt.ɚ/
- US [ˈlæɾ.ɚ]
Latter has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-latter.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with latter
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with latter?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as latter from its last stressed vowel (/ætəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: rattle.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
What does latter mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Near (or nearer) to the end.
the latter part of the century
- 2
In the past, but close (or closer) to the present time.
In his latter years my dad became very absent-minded.
noun
- 1
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).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Latter in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ce dernier , dernier |
| German | letzterer, zweiter , letzter , letztere |
| Portuguese | segundo, último, este |
| Spanish | (el) segundo, éste, esto, (este) último |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does latter come from?
From Middle English latter, lattere, lattre, from Old English lætra, comparative form of læt (“late”). Equivalent to late + -er, thus a doublet of later; also, related to last, whose doublet is latest.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).