the.com/late afternoon

means The stretch of day roughly between mid-afternoon and early evening, when the sun sits low and the light turns warm.

from A plain English compound: "afternoon" is simply "after" plus "noon" — the part of the day following midday — a pairing in use since at least the 14th century. "Noon" itself has a surprising past, coming from the Latin "nona hora," the "ninth hour" of the Roman day, which fell around 3 p.m.; over centuries the marked hour for monastic prayers drifted earlier until "noon" settled on midday. "Late" then narrows the window to its waning end, when afternoon leans toward dusk.