late-inning

The compound "late-inning" is a distinctly American term born from the sport of baseball. Its first element, "late," derives from the Proto-Germanic lataz, carrying the sense of slowness or being behind a point in time. The second element, "inning," originates from the Old English innung, meaning "a getting in" or "putting in," which in cricket and later baseball was adopted to signify a team's turn at batting. The compound logic is transparently spatial and temporal: the "innings" that come later in the sequence of the game. Its meaning evolved from a simple chronological descriptor to a specialized sports term and finally to a modern metaphorical sense, signifying the critical, concluding phase of any endeavor where the outcome is often decided.

Structure: late (tardy) + inning (period of play) - late: From Old English læt (slow, tardy), of Germanic origin. Functions as an adjective modifying the noun. - inning: From the verb inn (to get in, to house), from Old English innian, with the '-ing' suffix forming a noun. In baseball, it denotes a division of the game.