Meanings
Origin
- Latinpotius sero quam numquam
- Englishbetter late than never
Perhaps a calque of Latin potius sero quam numquam from the 4th book of Ab Urbe condita (History of Rome) by Titus Livius, around 27 BC.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَن يَأْتِي مُتَأَخِّرًا خَيْر مِن أَلَّا يَأْتِي أَبَدًا
- أَن يَأْتِي مُتَأَخِّرًا خَيْر مِن أَلَّا يَأْتِي أَبَدًا (ʔan yaʔtī mutaʔaḵḵiran ḵayr min ʔallā yaʔtī ʔabadan)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Basque hobe da berandu sekula baino
- hobe da berandu sekula bainoit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Bulgarian по-добре късно отколкото никога
- по-добре късно отколкото никога (po-dobre kăsno otkolkoto nikoga)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Catalan més val tard que no mai
- més val tard que no maiit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Chinese Mandarin 遲做總比不做好 /迟做总比不做好, 亡羊補牢 /亡羊补牢
- 遲做總比不做好 /迟做总比不做好 (chí zuò zǒng bǐ bù zuò hǎo)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- 亡羊補牢 /亡羊补牢 (wángyángbǔláo)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Czech lepší pozdě než nikdy
- lepší pozdě než nikdyit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Danish bedre sent end aldrig
- bedre sent end aldrigit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Dutch beter laat dan nooit
- beter laat dan nooitit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Esperanto pli bone malfrue ol neniam
- pli bone malfrue ol neniamit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Estonian parem hilja kui mitte kunagi
- parem hilja kui mitte kunagiit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Finnish parempi myöhään kuin ei milloinkaan
- parempi myöhään kuin ei milloinkaanit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
French mieux vaut tard que jamais
- mieux vaut tard que jamaisit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
German besser spät als nie
- besser spät als nieit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Greek κάλλιο αργά παρά ποτέ
- κάλλιο αργά παρά ποτέ (kállio argá pará poté)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Hebrew עדיף מאוחר מאשר לעולם לא
- עדיף מאוחר מאשר לעולם לאit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Hindi जब जाति तब सवेरे
- जब जाति तब सवेरे (jab jāti tab savere)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Hungarian jobb későn, mint soha
- jobb későn, mint sohait's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Irish is fearr déanaí ná ródhéanaí, is fearr go deireanach ná go brách
- is fearr déanaí ná ródhéanaíit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- is fearr go deireanach ná go bráchit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- is fearr go mall ná go bráchit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Italian meglio tardi che mai
- meglio tardi che maiit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Japanese 遅くてもやらないよりまし
- 遅くてもやらないよりまし (osokutemo yaranai yori mashi)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Korean 늦더라도 안 하는 것보다는 낫다
- 늦더라도 안 하는 것보다는 낫다 (neutdeo-rado an haneun geot-boda-neun natda)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Latin potius sero quam numquam, potiusque sero quam numquam
- potius sero quam numquamit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- potiusque sero quam numquamit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Norwegian Bokmål bedre sent enn aldri, bedre seint enn aldri
- bedre sent enn aldriit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- bedre seint enn aldriit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Persian دیر آید و شیر آید
- دیر آید و شیر آید (dir âyad o šir âyad)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Polish lepiej późno niż wcale, lepiej późno niż później
- lepiej późno niż wcaleit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- lepiej późno niż późniejit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Portuguese antes tarde do que nunca, mais vale tarde do que nunca
- antes tarde do que nuncait's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- mais vale tarde do que nuncait's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Romanian mai bine mai târziu decât niciodată
- mai bine mai târziu decât niciodatăit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Russian лу́чше по́здно, чем никогда́
- лу́чше по́здно, чем никогда́ (lúčše pózdno, čem nikogdá)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Spanish más vale tarde que nunca, nunca es tarde si la dicha es buena
- más vale tarde que nuncait's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- nunca es tarde si la dicha es buenait's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Swedish bättre sent än aldrig
- bättre sent än aldrigit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Turkish geç olsun da güç olmasın
- geç olsun da güç olmasınit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Ukrainian кра́ще пі́зно, ніж ніко́ли
- кра́ще пі́зно, ніж ніко́ли (krášče pízno, niž nikóly)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Urdu دیر آئے درست آئے
- دیر آئے درست آئے (der ā'ye durust ā'ye)it's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Vietnamese thà trễ còn hơn không, có còn hơn không
- thà trễ còn hơn khôngit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- có còn hơn khôngit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
- muộn còn hơn khôngit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Welsh gwell rhywbryd na byth
- gwell rhywbryd na bythit's better to do something late, than to never do it at all
Cite this entry
APA
better late than never. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/better%20late%20than%20never
MLA
“better late than never.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/better%20late%20than%20never. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “better late than never,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/better%20late%20than%20never.
Source: better late than never on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.