Follow

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ˈfɒləʊ/

Definitions

1. To go or come after someone or something in movement, time, or sequence
2. To come after someone or something in terms of movement or time, as well as to adhere to guidelines or rules and to accept the ideas or directives of another
3. To pursue someone or something physically or in chronology, while also conforming to instructions or beliefs established by others

Etymology: Old English "folgian" meant "to follow" or "to pursue," and it carried the sense of chasing or going after someone, which is still the core of the modern verb. Its ancestor, reconstructed as Proto-Germanic "fulgāną," belonged to a family of Germanic words for following, so the verb has been doing essentially the same job in English for well over a thousand years. The word passed into Middle English as "folwen," "folȝen," and "folgen," with the spelling settling into its modern form over the following centuries. Its spelling is a reminder that the "w" in "follow" is not pronounced as a "w" sound in the sense of a separate consonant in the way the letters suggest; the spelling simply reflects the older forms that carried a "w" or gutturals in their pronunciation.

Synonyms: pursue, chase, trail, succeed, adhere

Antonyms: lead, precede, ignore