future

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   of elected officers not yet serving

   The future state official celebrated their win with a large party.

2. 2
   adj

   yet to be or coming

   some future historian will evaluate him

3. 3
   adj

   effective in or looking toward the future

   I was preparing for future employment opportunities.

4. 4
   adj

   a verb tense or other formation referring to events or states that have not yet happened

   future auxiliary

5. 5
   noun

   The time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced.

   This solitary attitude stems in part from a deep sense of fatalism and futility, a profound social effect of the genophage that caused krogan numbers to dwindle to a relative handful. Not only are they angry that the entire galaxy seems out to get them, the krogan are also generally pessimistic about their race's chances of survival. The surviving krogan see no point to building for the future; there will be no future. The krogan live with an attitude of "kill, pillage, and be selfish, for tomorrow we die."

6. 6
   noun

   Goodness in what is yet to come. Something to look forward to.

   There is no future in dwelling on the past.

7. 7
   noun

   The likely prospects for or fate of someone or something in time to come.

   Again, it's unlikely they will return to traffic, but futures have been secured for four that will be heading to heritage railways [...].

8. 8
   adj

   Having to do with or occurring in the future.

   Future generations will either laugh or cry at our stupidity.

Etymology

From Middle English future, futur, from Old French futur, from Latin futūrus, irregular future active participle of sum (“to be”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH- (“to become, be”). Cognate with Old English bēo (“to become, will be; to be”). More at be. Doublet of futur. Displaced native Old English tōweard, which took on a different meaning as toward, and Middle English afterhede (“future”, literally “afterhood”) in the given sense.