Definition
The afternoon or evening part of the day; also used as an adverb meaning "late."
Example
Vamos ao parque hoje à tarde, tudo bem?
Show translation
Let's go to the park this afternoon, okay?
Etymology
From Latin *tarde* (adverb, "slowly, late"), derived from *tardus* ("slow, delayed"). The shift from the adverbial meaning "late" to the nominal meaning "afternoon" happened in Vulgar Latin, where *tarde* replaced the classical *vesper* as the word for the late part of the day — a semantic drift shared by all Ibero-Romance languages.
Cultural note
In Brazil, the standard greeting from roughly noon to 6 p.m. is **"Boa tarde!"** (Good afternoon!). Brazilians also use *tarde* as an adverb — *"Você chegou tarde"* (You arrived late) — so learners should pay attention to context: when it follows *à* (contraction of *a + a*), it is a noun meaning "afternoon"; when it stands alone after a verb, it is an adverb meaning "late." Don't confuse with Spanish *tarde*, which works the same way — a handy cognate, not a false friend.