Futurus

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterized by the quality of being yet to come or occur in time
2. Pertaining to events or states that are anticipated to happen after the present moment
3. Relating to the aspect of time in which actions or circumstances are set to emerge or unfold in the future

Etymology: In Latin, "futurus" was the future participle of "esse," "to be," so it meant "about to be" or "going to be." It is built on the stem "fu-," the same stem found in "fui," "I was." That stem comes from an ancient Indo-European root that also gave English "be," so the idea of the future grew out of the simple idea of existing or becoming. English took the idea through Old French "futur," and the modern sense of time still to come grew directly from the Latin participle's meaning. The grammatical sense, the future tense of a verb, came later, when grammarians needed a name for a form that expresses action yet to occur. That sense still follows the Latin meaning closely: an action seen as about to happen.

Synonyms: future, forthcoming

Antonyms: past, previous