different between future vs following

English

Etymology

From Middle English future, futur, from Old French futur, from Latin fut?rus, irregular future active participle of sum (“I am”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?uH- (“to become, be”). Cognate with Old English b?o (“I become, I will be, I am”). More at be. Displaced native Old English t?weard and Middle English afterhede (“future”, literally “afterhood”) in the given sense.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?fju?t???/
• (US) enPR: fyo?o'ch?r, IPA^(key): /?fju?t???/
• Rhymes: -u?t??(?)

Noun

future (countable and uncountable, plural futures)

1. The time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced.
2. Something that will happen in moments yet to come.
3. Goodness in what is yet to come. Something to look forward to.

4. The likely prospects for or fate of someone or something in time to come.
5. (grammar) Verb tense used to talk about events that will happen in the future; future tense.
6. (finance) Alternative form of futures
7. (computing, programming) An object that retrieves the value of a promise.
8. (sports) A minor-league prospect.

Usage notes

• (finance): The one who agrees to, at a future date, sell the commodity is considered to be selling the future; the other buys it.
• (finance): A non-standardized contract to buy and sell in the future is called forward or forward contract.

Synonyms

• (time or moments yet to be experienced): to-come, toward (obsolete); see also Thesaurus:the future

Derived terms

Coordinate terms

• (finance): forward

Translations

Adjective

future (not comparable)

1. Having to do with or occurring in the future.

   • So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills, […] a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

Synonyms

• unborn; see also Thesaurus:future

Translations

Derived terms

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fy.ty?/
• Homophones: futur, futurs, futures

Adjective

future

1. feminine singular of futur

Italian

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ure

Adjective

future

1. feminine plural of futuro

Latin

Participle

fut?re

1. vocative masculine singular of fut?rus

Middle English

Alternative forms

• futur, ffutur, futire

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French futur, from Latin fut?rus, past participle of sum (cognate to Middle English been).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fiu??tiu?r/, /?fiu?tur/, /?fiu?tir/

Noun

future (plural futures)

1. (rare) A future action or doing; that which happens in the future.
2. (rare) The future; the time beyond the present.

Descendants

• English: future
• Scots: futur

References

• “f?t?r(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-20.

Adjective

future

1. Occurring after the present; future or upcoming.
2. (rare, grammar) Having the future tense; grammatically marking futureness.

Descendants

• English: future
• Scots: futur

References

• “f?t?r(e, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-20.

Norman

Adjective

future

1. feminine singular of futur

Old French

Noun

future m (oblique plural futures, nominative singular futures, nominative plural future)

1. (grammar) future (tense)

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f?l????/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?f?lo???/
• Hyphenation: fol?low?ing

Adjective

following (not comparable)

1. Coming next, either in sequence or in time.

   Synonyms: succeeding; see also Thesaurus:subsequent

   Antonyms: preceding; see also Thesaurus:former

   • 1835, Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1, pp.284-5

     Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.

2. About to be specified.

   Synonym: undermentioned

   Antonyms: abovementioned, aforementioned, aforesaid

3. (of a wind) Blowing in the direction of travel.

Usage notes

(Senses 1, 2) When it modifies a noun phrase, it is generally preceded by the definite article the, and the combination functions as a determiner rather than a simple adjective. You can put it before a cardinal like the following two remarks instead of the two following remarks.

Translations

Preposition

following

1. After, subsequent to.

   Following the meeting, we all had a chat.

Translations

Noun

following (plural followings)

1. A group of followers, attendants or admirers; an entourage.

   He had a loyal following.
2. Vocation; business; profession.
3. (with definite article, treated as singular or plural) A thing or things to be mentioned immediately after.

   The following is a recommendation letter from the president.

   The following are the three most important questions.

Translations

Verb

following

1. present participle of follow