future

 
Pronunciation: /ˈfjuːtʃə/

noun

  • 1 (usually the future) a period of time following the moment of speaking or writing; time regarded as still to come: we plan on getting married in the near future work on the building will be shelved for the foreseeable future
  • events that will or are likely to happen in time to come: nobody can predict the future
  • the likely prospects for or fate of someone or something in time to come: MPs will debate the future of the railways
  • a prospect of success or happiness: he’d decided that there was no future in the gang I began to believe I might have a future as an artist
  • Grammar a tense of verbs expressing events that have not yet happened.
  • 2 (futures) contracts for assets (especially commodities or shares) bought at agreed prices but delivered and paid for later. Compare with forward (sense 2 of the noun)

adjective

[attributive]
  • at a later time; going or likely to happen or exist: the needs of future generations
  • (of a person) planned or destined to hold a specified position: his future wife
  • existing after death: heaven and the future life with Christ
  • Grammar (of a tense) expressing an event yet to happen.

Phrases

for future reference

see reference

in future

from now onwards: she would be more careful in future

Origin:

late Middle English: via Old French from Latin futurus, future participle of esse 'be' (from the stem fu-, ultimately from a base meaning 'grow, become')