Adjacent Words

Future definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FU'TURE, a. [L. futurus.] That is to be or come hereafter; that will exist at any time after the present, indefinitely. The next moment is future to the present.
1. The future tense, in grammar, is the modification of a verb which expresses a future act or event.
FU'TURE, n. Time to come; a time subsequent to the present; as, the future shall be as the present; in future; for the future. In such phrases, time or season is implied.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: yet to be or coming; "some future historian will evaluate him" [ant: past, present]
2: effective in or looking toward the future; "he was preparing for future employment opportunities"
3: (of elected officers) elected but not yet serving; "our next president" [syn: future, next, succeeding]
4: a verb tense or other formation referring to events or states that have not yet happened; "future auxiliary" n
1: the time yet to come [syn: future, hereafter, futurity, time to come] [ant: past, past times, yesteryear]
2: a verb tense that expresses actions or states in the future [syn: future, future tense]
3: bulk commodities bought or sold at an agreed price for delivery at a specified future date

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French, from Latin futurus about to be — more at be Date: 14th century 1. that is to be; specifically existing after death 2. of, relating to, or constituting a verb tense expressive of time yet to come 3. existing or occurring at a later time <met his future wife> II. noun Date: 15th century 1. a. time that is to come b. what is going to happen 2. an expectation of advancement or progressive development 3. something (as a bulk commodity) bought for future acceptance or sold for future delivery — usually used in plural <grain futures> 4. a. the future tense of a language b. a verb form in the future tense

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 a going or expected to happen or be or become (his future career). b that will be something specified (my future wife). c that will be after death (a future life). 2 a of time to come (future years). b Gram. (of a tense or participle) describing an event yet to happen. --n. 1 time to come (past, present, and future). 2 what will happen in the future (the future is uncertain). 3 the future condition of a person, country, etc. 4 a prospect of success etc. (there's no future in it). 5 Gram. the future tense. 6 (in pl.) Stock Exch. a goods and stocks sold for future delivery. b contracts for these. Phrases and idioms: for the future = in future. future perfect Gram. a tense giving the sense will have done. future shock inability to cope with rapid progress. in future from now onwards. Derivatives: futureless adj. Etymology: ME f. OF futur -ure f. L futurus future part. of esse be f. stem fu- be

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Future Fu"ture (?; 135), a. [F. futur, L. futurus, used as fut. p. of esse to be, but from the same root as E. be. See Be, v. i.] That is to be or come hereafter; that will exist at any time after the present; as, the next moment is future, to the present. Future tense (Gram.), the tense or modification of a verb which expresses a future act or event.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Future Fu"ture, n. [Cf. F. futur. See Future, a.] 1. Time to come; time subsequent to the present (as, the future shall be as the present); collectively, events that are to happen in time to come. ``Lay the future open.'' --Shak. 2. The possibilities of the future; -- used especially of prospective success or advancement; as, he had great future before him. 3. (Gram.) A future tense. To deal in futures, to speculate on the future values of merchandise or stocks. [Brokers' cant]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(futures) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. The future is the period of time that will come after the present, or the things that will happen then. The spokesman said no decision on the proposal was likely in the immediate future... He was making plans for the future... I had little time to think about what the future held for me. ? past N-SING: the N 2. Future things will happen or exist after the present time. She said if the world did not act conclusively now, it would only bequeath the problem to future generations... Meanwhile, the domestic debate on Denmark's future role in Europe rages on. ...the future King and Queen. for future reference: see reference ADJ: ADJ n 3. Someone's future, or the future of something, is what will happen to them or what they will do after the present time. His future as prime minister depends on the outcome of the elections... ...a proposed national conference on the country's political future... N-COUNT: usu sing, usu with supp 4. If you say that someone or something has a future, you mean that they are likely to be successful or to survive. These abandoned children have now got a future... There's no future in this relationship. N-COUNT: usu a N in sing 5. When people trade in futures, they buy stocks and shares, commodities such as coffee or oil, or foreign currency at a price that is agreed at the time of purchase for items which are delivered some time in the future. (BUSINESS) This report could spur some buying in corn futures when the market opens today... N-PLURAL: usu with supp 6. In grammar, the future tense of a verb is the one used to talk about things that are going to happen. In English, this applies to verb groups consisting of 'will' or 'shall' and the base form of a verb. The future perfect tense of a verb is used to talk about things that will have happened at some time in the future. ADJ: ADJ n 7. You use in future when saying what will happen from now on, which will be different from what has previously happened. The form in the future is sometimes used instead, especially in American English. I asked her to be more careful in future... In the future, Mr. Fernandes says, he won't rely on others to handle this. PHRASE

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

fu'-tur, fu'-chur.

See ESCHATOLOGY.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Futurity, time to come, coming time, subsequent time. 2. Coming events, events to come, what is yet to be, what may occur hereafter. II. a. 1. Coming, to come, yet to be, that will be, hereafter. 2. (Gram.) Denoting futurity.

Moby Thesaurus

Friday, Friday the thirteenth, about to be, affianced, aftertime, afterward, already in sight, aorist, appointed lot, approaching, astral influences, astrology, at hand, betrothed, book of fate, brewing, bride-to-be, by-and-by, close, close at hand, coming, constellation, cup, desired, destinal, destination, destined, destiny, determined, dies funestis, doom, durative, emergent, end, eventual, expected, extrapolated, fatal, fatality, fate, fated, fatidic, fiance, fiancee, following, foredoom, forthcoming, fortune, future perfect, futuristic, gathering, going to happen, hereafter, historical present, hoped-for, ides of March, immediate, imminent, impendent, impending, imperfect, in danger imminent, in prospect, in reserve, in store, in the cards, in the offing, in the wind, in view, inevitability, instant, intended, kismet, later, looming, lot, lowering, lurking, menacing, moira, near, near at hand, nearing, offing, on the horizon, overhanging, past, past perfect, perfect, planets, planned, plotted, pluperfect, point tense, portion, predicted, preparing, present, present perfect, preterit, probable, progressive tense, projected, prophesied, prospective, stars, subsequent, tense, that will be, threatening, time to come, to come, to-be, tomorrow, ultimate, unborn, unlucky day, upcoming, waiting, weird, wheel of fortune, will of Heaven