Why are dead people described as 'late'?

very late

Why do people say "Take care"?

Where is this care that I can with me? [smiley:crazy]

There are many theories as to why the word late is used to describe the recently deceased.  Perhaps the most common reason behind such usage is for purposes of softening the blow.  When people refer to individuals who have passed away, and especially when they are loved ones or family members, it’s tough to actually state that they are “dead.”  That’s why we look for ways to euphemize the term and make it sound softer and lighter to listen to.

It’s very grave when we call someone “dead.”  Terms like “passed away” or “late” is then more preferred when it comes to calling the recently deceased.  Dead is a strong word that might not be suitable for use especially in sensitive situations.  That is why you often hear people referring to their deceased loved ones as “late.”

That is the reason why late is used to describe the recently deceased.  But as for the association behind the word “late” to mean arriving at a later time to “late” meaning recently deceased, there are only a few theories.  One can only ponder and speculate on this.

It could probably have come from the adverb use of “late” which is “lately,” meaning not long since but also not now.  Late could also mean towards the end, as in arriving late or arriving towards the end of the meeting.  When combining both, you can come up with “recently” as a synonym of “lately” and “deceased”

late (adj.)
Old English læt "occurring after the customary or expected time," originally "slow, sluggish, slack, lax, negligent," from Proto-Germanic *lata- (source also of Old Norse latr "sluggish, lazy," Middle Dutch, Old Saxon lat, Dutch laat, German laß "idle, weary," Gothic lats "weary, sluggish, lazy," latjan "to hinder"), from PIE *led- "slow, weary" (source also of Latin lassus "faint, weary, languid, exhausted," Greek ledein "to be weary"), from root *le- (2) "to let go, slacken" (see let (v.)); and compare let (n.).

From mid-13c. as "occurring in the latter part of a period of time." From c. 1400 as "being or occurring in the near, or not too distant, past; recent" (of late). From this comes the early 15c. sense "recently dead, not many years dead" (as in the late Mrs. Smith). Of menstruation, attested colloquially from 1962. Expression better late than never is attested from late 15c. As an adverb, from Old English late "slowly."

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=late