future
fu·ture / ˈfyoōchər/ • n. 1. (usu. the future) the time or 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 halted for the foreseeable future. ∎ events that will or are likely to happen in the time to come: nobody can predict the future. ∎ used to refer to what will happen to someone or something in the time to come: a blueprint for the future of American fast food. ∎ 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. ∎ Gram. a tense of verbs expressing events that have not yet happened.2. (futures) Finance short for futures contract. • adj. 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: expectation of a future life. ∎ Gram. (of a tense) expressing an event yet to happen.PHRASES: for future referencesee reference.DERIVATIVES: fu·ture·less adj.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’).
