futureadj.n.
/ˈfjuːtʃə/, /ˈfjuːtjʊə/, U.S. /ˈfjutʃər/ A. adj.
1.
a. That is to be, or will be, hereafter. Often qualifying a noun, with the sense: The person or thing that is expected to be (what the noun denotes).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > [adjective] > expected
futurec1374
in a possibility1523
forestalled1543
looked-for1548
anticipatec1550
expected1558
long-looked-for1562
looked1565
in expectation1570
expectable1619
expecting1621
in perspective1633
unsurprising1671
in prospect1694
perspective1710
in prospective1746–7
prospective1809
anticipated1814
presumable1825
anticipatable1872
ex ante1937
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adjective] > future or that is to come
towardc888
tocomingOE
futurec1374
unborn1598
to-be1609
unbred1609
hereaftera1616
succeeding1676
uprising1727
unarrived1745
will-be1802
unelapsed1805
unforegone1844
upcoming1879
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde v. 748 Futur tyme, er I was in the snare, Coude I not seen.
c1440 Gesta Romanorum (Harl.) xxviii. 105 Vyneger was gode, and that is for þe preterit tyme; wyne is gode, and þat is for the presente tyme; and muste shalle be gode, and that is for the future tyme.
1600 tr. in R. Hakluyt Princ. Navigations (new ed.) III. 860 There is no likelihood of future sedition..in any of the kingdoms.
1641 J. Milton Reason Church-govt. 29 The trifling doubts and jealousies of future sects.
1725 I. Watts Logick ii. v. §7 We attain the greatest assurance of things past and future by divine faith.
1816 M. Greenleaf District of Maine 136 Like every thing future, all speculations on this subject must..be in a measure uncertain.
1838 E. Bulwer-Lytton Alice I. i. vi. 50 I wish I were the future Lady Vargrave.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. xxvi. 374 To help future observers to place this point beyond doubt, etc.
1861 T. R. Jones Gen. Outl. Animal Kingdom (ed. 3) viii. 208 The little embryo bears no resemblance whatever to the future animal.
1882 J. H. Blunt Reformation Church of Eng. II. 428 The series of events which the future Cardinal thus indicated in outline.
1884 B. Bosanquet et al. tr. H. Lotze Metaphysic 264 If to one and the same consciousness that is to become Present which was previously Future to it.
1895 Law Times 98 280/1 The injury..blighting the plaintiff's whole future career.
b. In certain contexts used spec. with reference to the condition of the soul after death. a future state, life: existence after death, esp. as an object of belief.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > heaven > [adjective] > of future life or state
future1733
otherworldly1879
other world1882
other-worldish1894
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man (rev. ed.) i. (contents) It is partly upon this Ignorance of future Events, and partly upon the Hope of a Future State, that all his Happiness in the Present depends.
1776 E. Gibbon Decline & Fall I. xv. 450 The doctrine of a future life, improved by every additional circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to that important truth.
1799 Willes & Durnford Comm. Pleas Cases 550 Supposing an infidel who believes a God..but does not believe a future state, be examined on his oath.
1814 J. Kenrick (title) The necessity of revelation to teach the doctrine of a future life.
1879 Psychol. Rev. 1 335 Those who believe in God and a Future Life.
1883 J. Gilmour Among Mongols xvii. 207 The theory of a man's future state depending simply on the preponderance of his good or bad actions.
1945 B. Russell Hist. Western Philos. ii. ii. 330 As regards the doctrine of a future life, in the West it was first taught by the Orphics and thence adopted by Greek philosophers.
c. absol. or elliptical; esp. in in future.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > in future [phrase]
in futurea1616
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) i. i. 145 Three Talents on the present; in future, all. View more context for this quotation
1650 A. Weldon Court & Char. King James 155 It utterly cast him out of all favour from the King in future.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 78 Him God beholding from his prospect high, Wherein past, present, future he beholds. View more context for this quotation
1808 T. Lindley Voy. Brasil 28 I shall be obliged to..endure a dark room in future.
d. (Philosophy) future contingent: a proposition which is neither true nor false, because it is about the future; sometimes, the future event itself, that may or may not occur. Also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [noun] > conditional or hypothetical proposition
conditional judgement or proposition1532
connex1628
hypothetical1654
hypothesis1656
future contingent1659
hypothetic1698
conditional1828
the mind > mental capacity > philosophy > logic > logical proposition > [adjective] > conditional or hypothetical
conditional1532
connexive1587
hypothetical1588
connex1589
connexed1628
substitutive1656
future contingent1659
hypothetica1680
theoretic1789
conjunctivea1856
counterfactual1946
contrafactual1950
1659 J. Rushworth Hist. Coll. 132 The eyes of humane providence cannot see beyond its Horizon; it cannot ascertain future Contingents.
1788 T. Reid Ess. Active Powers Man iv. x There seems to me to be a great analogy between the prescience of future contingents, and the memory of past contingents.
1885 J. Veitch Institutes of Logic §463 This happens especially in future contingents.
1957 A. N. Prior Time & Modality 120 We assign to future contingents a third truth-value.
1969 N. Rescher Many-valued Logic ii. 148 The so-called future-contingent propositions..involve the outcome of free human choices.
e. future probation n. a moral trial after death, which some believe will be granted to those who have not accepted, or have not had the offer of, the Gospel in this life, or to those who depart this life insufficiently purified. See probation n. 2a.
ΚΠ
1908 N.E.D. at Probation sb. Future probation, a..moral trial after death, which some believe will be granted to those who have not accepted, or have not had the offer of, the Gospel in this life, or to those who depart this life insufficiently purified.
2. Of or pertaining to time to come; esp. in Grammar of a tense: Relating to time to come; describing an event yet to happen. Also elliptical (= future tense). future perfect (tense): expressing an event or action viewed as past in relation to a given future time.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [adjective] > future
future1530
futural1906
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [adjective]
future1631
will-be1802
futural1953
futuristic1958
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 84 The future tens, as je parleráy.
1579 W. Fulke Refut. Rastels Confut. in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 768 Hee maketh them..plainer by chaunging the pretertence into the future.
1612 J. Brinsley Posing of Parts f. 17v Q. What time speaks the Future tense of? A. Of the time to come.
1631 Earl of Manchester Contemplatio Mortis 23 Man is a future creature, his soule lookes at what is beyond this life.
1708 Brit. Apollo 4–6 Aug. Tho' the first Aorist be..used for the second future.
1795 L. Murray Eng. Gram. 44 The first Future Tense..The second Future.
3. Loosely used for: Subsequent (to a specified past epoch).
ΚΠ
1600 J. Lane Tom Tel-Troths Message 120 Since those times by future times were changed.
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 114 Scotland..in times past began at the Mountaine Grampius..But in future times, by the extinguishment of the Picts, it reached also unto Tweed.
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. ii. 107 Prognosticks..made good by the future event of the Experiments.
1858 W. L. Sargant Soc. Innov. 27 This rhapsody will not be intelligible to those unacquainted with St. Simon's future history.
B. n.† 1. plural. Future events. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > future events > [noun]
futuresc1374
the futurea1616
future history1650
futurity1651
futurity1664
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr.) v. vi. 133 It..procedith fro preteritz in to futuris.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. (Cambr.) v. vi. 134 It ne hath nat the futuris þat ben nat yit.
1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 476 Providence against all sorts of Futures that fall under our Care.
2. the future.personified.1821 P. B. Shelley Adonais i. 7 Till the Future dares Forget the Past.
a. Time to come; future time. for the future: in all future time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [noun]
to-comec1350
the futurec1400
hereafter1546
tocoming1556
aftertime1557
after age1560
after hours1599
futuritya1616
afterwards1669
to-be1819
coming1833
by and by1868
hence1904
c1400 Rom. Rose 5015 Aforn hir she may see In the future som socour.
a1616 W. Shakespeare All's Well that ends Well (1623) iv. ii. 64 That what in time proceeds, May token to the future, our past deeds. View more context for this quotation
1693 Humours & Conversat. Town 63 All the Fury of Minor Criticks follow..all his Opinions for the future.
1796 Accurate & Impartial Narr. Campaigns 1793–4 (ed. 3) II. viii. 52 I'll..teach him to take better care for the future.
1822 W. Hazlitt Table-talk I. iii. 52 The future is like a dead wall or a thick mist hiding all objects from our view.
1878 J. Morley Carlyle in Crit. Misc. 197 The industrial organization of the future.
b. What will happen in the future.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > occurrence > future events > [noun]
futuresc1374
the futurea1616
future history1650
futurity1651
futurity1664
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) ii. ii. 145 The future comes apace. View more context for this quotation
1733 A. Pope Ess. Man i. 81 Oh blindness to the future! Kindly giv'n.
1759 S. Johnson Prince of Abissinia II. xxix. 34 The future [is the object] of hope and fear.
1820 C. Lamb in London Mag. Oct. 366/2 The mighty future is as nothing, being every thing.
1866 Gladstone in Pall Mall Gaz. 28 July (1892) 1/2 You cannot fight against the future..time is on our side.
3.
a. A condition in time to come different (esp. in a favourable sense) from the present.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [noun] > future world or condition
hereafter1702
futurity1741
future1852
hence1884
1852 H. Rogers Eclipse of Faith 61 Every little present has its little future for which we live.
1879 E. Arnold Light of Asia v. 132 Making all futures fruits of all the pasts.
1891 C. T. C. James Romantic Rigmarole 86 I would soon carve out a new future for us both.
b. The prospective condition (of a person, country, etc.); spec. a prospective condition of success, prosperity, etc.; (there is) no future in (something): there is no prospect of success or advancement in (it).
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [noun] > future world or condition > of a person, country, etc.
future1859
the world > action or operation > prosperity > [noun] > prosperity or success > prospective
future1891
the world > time > relative time > the future or time to come > [noun] > future world or condition > of success, prosperity, etc.
future1891
1859 E. Bulwer-Lytton What will he do with It? (1st Edinb. ed.) IV. xi. viii. 179 My sacrifice to Jasper's future might not have been in vain!
1863 M. Howitt tr. F. Bremer Greece & Greeks I. viii. 263–4 See every~thing which belongs to the future of Greece.
1882 C. Pebody Eng. Journalism xx. 152 Its future is a future which..is likely to add fresh lustre to the Newspaper Press.
1891 O. Wilde Picture of Dorian Gray xv. 268 I like men who have a future, and women who have a past.
1921 J. Galsworthy To Let i. i What was the use of going in to look at this crazy, futuristic stuff with the view of seeing whether it had any future?
1926 J. Galsworthy Silver Spoon ii. x. 199 No future in it!
1932 Week-end Rev. 7 May 586/2 Miss Stone certainly has a future as a novelist.
1948 ‘N. Shute’ No Highway ii. 40 We can't hide things up. There's no future in that.
1960 L. Cooper Accomplices i. vi. 62 You can't rob a bank or bash a chap's head in and then say to the police, Oh it doesn't matter I'm leaving here next week. (You can, I suppose, if you feel that way, but there's no future in it.)
1968 Listener 28 Nov. 714/2 I've known Lowry since 1919, when we were both working in the life class in Manchester School of Art, and I predicted a future for Lowry.
1971 ‘H. Carmichael’ Most Deadly Hate v. 62 There's no future in being an accessory after the fact in a murder case.
4. Grammar. = future tense: see A. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of grammar > tense > [noun] > future
future1881
1881 Rutherford New Phrynichus 405 It affords the necessary authority to supply deponent futures to a group of verbs..of which by a singular fatality no future form has been preserved.
5. One who is affianced in marriage, one's betrothed. [After French futur, future.]
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > marriage or wedlock > betrothal > [noun] > betrothed person
spousec1300
espouse?c1450
espoused1554
betrothed1557
intended1767
future1827
affianced1828
prétendu1847
1827 T. Moore Mem. (1854) V. 196 Lord Charles took his pretty future to Church this morning to receive the sacrament.
6. Commerce. In plural. Goods (esp. corn, cotton and other produce) and stocks sold on an agreement for future delivery. Also, contracts to sell or buy on these terms. Also attributive, as in future system.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > merchandise > [noun] > food or raw material as object of trade > sold for future delivery
future1880
pork belly futures2021
society > trade and finance > stocks and shares > stocks, shares, or bonds > [noun] > stock > bought, sold, or dealt on particular terms
bear1709
bull1714
bearskin1719
trust stock1733
preference stock1845
preferred stock1848
trustee stock1855
short1868
privileged stock1875
future1880
junior stock1914
curb-stocks1915
long1930
junk bond1974
1880 Daily News 10 Nov. 3/8 American futures are in better demand.
1883 Manch. Examiner 6 Nov. 4/4 Amongst the new developments of the cotton trade, the buying of futures may be looked upon as the most prominent.
1888 Times 26 June 12/1 Coffee very dull on the spot and not much done in futures.
1896 Daily News 22 Sept. 8/4 The question on the programme was that of ‘futures’.
1897 Westm. Gaz. 5 Jan. 9/1 The future system had created..in New York..an enormous market.
Compounds
future research n. (also futures research) = futurology n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > study of society > [noun] > other branches
social history1814
social geography1828
social dynamics1843
social statics1843
socio-economics1893
genetics1896
biosociology1897
social engineering1899
social morphology1899
psychosociology1902
socionomics1902
political sociology1905
sociobiology1912
social planning1913
social constructionist1925
futurology1946
sociobiology1946
structural anthropology1950
squalorology1961
proxemics1963
future research1969
women's studies1969
future study1971
social constructionism1976
social constructivism1981
1969 New Scientist 18 Dec. 588/2 A conflict about the conduct of futures research in West Germany has blown up among the futurologists themselves.
1971 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 28 Mar. (Business section) 10/2 (advt.) Duties will include so called ‘future’ research into the implications of rapid technological change for Man.
future shock n. see shock n.3.
future study n. = future research n.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > study of society > [noun] > other branches
social history1814
social geography1828
social dynamics1843
social statics1843
socio-economics1893
genetics1896
biosociology1897
social engineering1899
social morphology1899
psychosociology1902
socionomics1902
political sociology1905
sociobiology1912
social planning1913
social constructionist1925
futurology1946
sociobiology1946
structural anthropology1950
squalorology1961
proxemics1963
future research1969
women's studies1969
future study1971
social constructionism1976
social constructivism1981
1971 Observer 10 Jan. 21/4 ‘The Institute for the Future’..is trying to get futures study out of the gee-whiz stage and give it a much more intellectually solid basis.
Draft additions June 2017
Tennis (originally U.S.). In plural, as futures. A tennis tournament played by amateurs or lower-ranked professional players; now spec. (sometimes with capital initial) a series of tournaments organized by the International Tennis Federation, representing the lowest level of competition in men's and women's professional tennis. Also: any of the individual tournaments or matches in this series. Often (and in earliest use) attributive, as futures circuit, futures tournament, etc.So-called because the tournaments are intended to bring on and encourage potential top-level players.
ΚΠ
1969 Amarillo (Texas) Sunday News-Globe 11 May 3 d/2 City High School, Futures Tennis Tournament, Caprock Courts, 2 p.m.
1975 N.Y. Times 24 Dec. 14/5 The Women's Tennis Association and United States Tennis Association have set up a 10-stop, $100,000 Futures Circuit... The idea is to give second-echelon players..a shot at competition and money.
1999 Times of India 26 Jan. 30/6 A pair each of Russians and Swedes made it to the singles tournament proper at the Gold Flake Aces ITF's men's Futures tournament.
2015 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 25 May d7/1 I was playing a futures in Romania.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
† futurev.
Obsolete.
transitive. To make future, put off to a future day. Also absol.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > a suitable time or opportunity > untimeliness > delay or postponement > delay [verb (transitive)]
forslowc888
eldc897
forsita940
gele971
lengOE
drilla1300
delayc1300
onfrestc1300
tarryc1320
jornc1330
dretchc1380
defer1382
forbida1387
to put offa1387
to put (also set) (something) in (or on) delaya1393
dilate1399
fordrawa1400
to put overc1410
latch?c1422
adjournc1425
prolongc1425
proloynec1425
rejournc1425
to put in respite1428
sleuthc1430
respitea1450
prorogue1453
refer1466
sleep1470
supersede1482
respectc1487
postpone1496
overseta1500
respett1500
enjourna1513
relong1523
retract1524
tarde1524
track1524
to fode forth1525
tract1527
protract1528
further1529
to make stay of1530
surcease1530
prorogate1534
to fay upon longc1540
linger1543
retard?1543
slake1544
procrastine1548
reprieve1548
remit1550
suspense1556
leave1559
shiftc1562
suspend1566
procrastinate1569
dally1574
post1577
to hold off1580
drift1584
loiter1589
postpose1598
to take one's (own) timea1602
flag1602
slug1605
elong1610
belay1613
demur1613
tardya1616
to hang up1623
frist1637
disjourn1642
future1642
off1642
waive1653
superannuate1655
perendinate1656
stave1664
detard1675
remora1686
to put back1718
withhold1726
protract1737
to keep over1847
to hold over1853
laten1860
to lay over1885
hold1891
back-burner1975
1642 R. Harris Serm. preached to House of Commons 15 And who knows but that there~fore God hath futured other hopes, and frustrated other means, to the intent that he might honor this ordinance?
1646 J. Trapp Brief Comm. John xii. 35 So they trifle, and by futuring, fool away their own salvation.
1647 J. Trapp Comm. Evangelists & Acts (Matt. xxv. 11) Trifling..with Christ and their souls, futuring their repentance.
1650 J. Trapp Clavis to Bible (Gen. xx. 8) 159 So [they] are shut out with the foolish Virgins, for their lingring and futuring.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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adj.n.c1374
v.1642