hereafter

English

Etymology

From Old English hēræfter (“in the aftertime; later on”); equivalent to here +‎ after.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /hɪɹˈæftɚ/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /hɪəˈɹɑːftə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːftə(ɹ), -æftə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: here‧af‧ter

Adverb

hereafter (not comparable)

1. (dated) In time to come; in some future time or state.
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “Act V Scene V”, in Macbeth:

     She should have died hereafter; / There would have been a time for such a word.

   • 1693, Dryden, John, The Last Parting of Hector and Andromache, translation of The Iliad by Homer:

     […] when hereafter he from war shall come / And bring his Trojans peace and triumph […]

2. From now on.
3. Sequentially after this point (in time, in the writing constituting a document, in the movement along a path, etc.)

Synonyms

• (in time to come): someday; see also Thesaurus:one day
• (from now on): henceforth; henceforward; see also Thesaurus:henceforth
• (sequentially after this point): followed by; see also Thesaurus:subsequently or Thesaurus:then

Translations

in time to come

• Bulgarian: после (bg) (posle), в бъдеще (v bǎdešte)
• Cherokee: ᎤᏩᎫᏗᏗᏒ (uwagudidisv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 此後 (zh), 此后 (zh) (cǐhòu)

• Dutch: hierna (nl)
• Finnish: tulevaisuudessa (fi)

• Greek: εφεξής (el) (efexís)
• Italian: prima o poi, nel tempo a venire,
• Maori: anamata
• Romanian: în viitor, de acum încolo, mai târziu
• Russian: зате́м (ru) (zatém)
• Swedish: hädanefter (sv), framdeles (sv)
• Telugu: పైన (te) (paina)
• Turkish: giderek (tr), zamanla (tr)

from now on — see from now on

sequentially after this point

• Italian: di seguito

• Plautdietsch: wiedahans

See also

• Category:English pronominal adverbs

Noun

hereafter (countable and uncountable, plural hereafters)

1. A future existence or state.
2. Existence after death.
   • 1712, Addison, Joseph, Cato, a Tragedy, act 5, scene 1:

     'Tis the Divinity that stirs within us; / 'Tis Heaven itself that points out an hereafter, / and intimates eternity to man.

Synonyms

• (a future state): aftertime; see also Thesaurus:the future
• (existence after death): afterlife, eternal life; see also Thesaurus:life after death or Thesaurus:afterlife

Derived terms

• sweet hereafter

Translations

future existence

• Dutch: hierna (nl), hiernamaals (nl)
• Finnish: tulevaisuus (fi)
• Maori: āmuri, āmua, anamata

• Russian: бу́дущее (ru) n (búduščeje), гряду́щее (ru) n (grjadúščeje)
• Turkish: ahiret (tr), öteki dünya (tr)

existence after death — see afterlife

Adjective

hereafter (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Future.

Synonyms

• unborn; see also Thesaurus:future

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “hereafter” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

See also

Here-, there-, and where- words

• (about): hereabout, thereabout, whereabout
• (abouts): hereabouts, thereabouts, whereabouts
• (after): hereafter, thereafter, whereafter
• (against): thereagainst, whereagainst
• (again): thereagain
• (amongst): whereamongst
• (among): thereamong, whereamong
• (around): therearound
• (as): thereas, whereas
• (at): hereat, thereat, whereat
• (before): herebefore, therebefore
• (beside): therebeside
• (between): therebetween, wherebetween
• (by): hereby, thereby, whereby
• (fore): herefore, therefore, wherefore
• (from): herefrom, therefrom, wherefrom
• (in after): hereinafter, thereinafter, whereinafter
• (in before): hereinbefore, thereinbefore, whereinbefore
• (in): herein, therein, wherein
• (into): hereinto, thereinto, whereinto
• (of): hereof, thereof, whereof
• (on): hereon, thereon, whereon
• (tofore): heretofore, theretofore, wheretofore
• (to): hereto, thereto, whereto
• (under): hereunder, thereunder, whereunder
• (unto): hereunto, thereunto, whereunto
• (upon): hereupon, thereupon, whereupon
• (withal): herewithal, therewithal, wherewithal
• (with): herewith, therewith, wherewith

 

Anagrams

• featherer