future

English Online Dictionary. What means future‎? What does future mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English future, futur, from Old French futur, from Latin futūrus, irregular future active participle of sum (“I am”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become, be”). Cognate with Old English bēo (“I become, I will be, I am”). More at be. Displaced native Old English tōweard and Middle English afterhede (“future”, literally “afterhood”) in the given sense.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: fyo͞o'chə(r), IPA^(key): /ˈfjuː.t͡ʃə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈfju.t͡ʃɚ/
• Rhymes: -uːtʃə(ɹ)

Noun

future (countable and uncountable, plural futures)

2. The time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced.
3. Something that will happen in moments yet to come.
4. Goodness in what is yet to come. Something to look forward to.
5. The likely prospects for or fate of someone or something in time to come.
6. (grammar) Verb tense used to talk about events that will happen in the future; future tense.
7. (finance) Alternative form of futures
8. (computing, programming) An object that retrieves the value of a promise.
9. (sports) A minor-league prospect.

Usage notes

• (finance): The one who agrees to, at a future date, sell the commodity is considered to be selling the future; the other buys it.
• (finance): A non-standardized contract to buy and sell in the future is called forward or forward contract.

Synonyms

• (time or moments yet to be experienced): to-come, toward (obsolete); see also Thesaurus:the future

Coordinate terms

• (finance): forward

Derived terms

Translations

Adjective

future (not comparable)

1. Having to do with or occurring in the future.

Synonyms

• unborn; see also Thesaurus:future

Derived terms

Translations

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fy.tyʁ/
• Homophones: futur, futurs, futures

Adjective

future

1. feminine singular of futur

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fuˈtu.re/
• Rhymes: -ure
• Hyphenation: fu‧tù‧re

Adjective

future f pl

1. feminine plural of futuro

Latin

Participle

futūre

1. vocative masculine singular of futūrus

Middle English

Alternative forms

• futur, ffutur, futire

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French futur, from Latin futūrus, past participle of sum (cognate to Middle English been).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiu̯ˈtiu̯r/, /ˈfiu̯tur/, /ˈfiu̯tir/

Noun

future (plural futures)

1. (rare) A future action or doing; that which happens in the future.
2. (rare) The future; the time beyond the present.

Descendants

• English: future
• Scots: futur

References

• “fūtūr(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-20.

Adjective

future

1. Occurring after the present; future or upcoming.
2. (rare, grammar) Having the future tense; grammatically marking futureness.

Descendants

• English: future
• Scots: futur

References

• “fūtūr(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-20.

Norman

Adjective

future

1. feminine singular of futur

Old French

Noun

future oblique singular, m (oblique plural futures, nominative singular futures, nominative plural future)

1. (grammar) future (tense)

Portuguese

Verb

future

1. inflection of futurar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative