Who invented the phrase "late" to describe someone who is dead?

BRY2K

The Oxford English Dictionary's earliest example of "late" meaning recently deceased is dated 1490. "Late" as an adjective meaning "recent but not continuing to the present" is similar, but the OED's first citation for it is from approx. 1548, so this sense may not have given rise to the "recently deceased" one. The OED says this latter sense of "late" apparently developed from an adverbial use, defined as "Not long since (but not now); recently (but no longer)." Its first quotation for "late" as an adverb in this sense is "John the monke late cardynal of Rome" (1474). http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/40/messages/56.html Jul 03 08, 10:50 AM