c.1374, from O.Fr. futur, from L. futurus "about to be," irregular suppletive future participle of esse "to be." The n. is modeled on L. futura, neut. pl. of futurus. As a movement in the arts, futurism is from It. futurismo, coined 1909 by It. poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti (1876-1944). Futuristic first attested 1915 in the futurism sense; as "of or pertaining to the future" it is attested from 1958.
Be\, v. i. [imp. Was; p. p. Been; p. pr. & vb. n. Being.] [OE. been, beon, AS. be['o]n to be, be['o]m I am; akin to OHG. bim, pim, G. bin, I am, Gael. & Ir. bu was, W. bod to be, Lith. bu-ti, O. Slav. by-ti, to be, L. fu-i I have been, fu-turus about to be, fo-re to be about to be, and perh to fieri to become, Gr. ? to be born, to be, Skr. bh? to be. This verb is defective, and the parts lacking are supplied by verbs from other roots, is, was, which have no radical connection with be. The various forms, am, are, is, was, were, etc., are considered grammatically as parts of the verb "to be", which, with its conjugational forms, is often called the substantive verb. ?97. Cf. Future, Physic.]1. To exist actually, or in the world of fact; to have ex?stence. To be contents his natural desire. --Pope. To be, or not to be: that is the question. --Shak. 2. To exist in a certain manner or relation, -- whether as a reality or as a product of thought; to exist as the subject of a certain predicate, that is, as having a certain attribute, or as belonging to a certain sort, or as identical with what is specified, -- a word or words for the predicate being annexed; as, to be happy; to be here; to be large, or strong; to be an animal; to be a hero; to be a nonentity; three and two are five; annihilation is the cessation of existence; that is the man. 3. To take place; to happen; as, the meeting was on Thursday. 4. To signify; to represent or symbolize; to answer to. The field is the world. --Matt. xiii. 38. The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. --Rev. i. 20. Note: The verb to be (including the forms is, was, etc.) is used in forming the passive voice of other verbs; as, John has been struck by James. It is also used with the past participle of many intransitive verbs to express a state of the subject. But have is now more commonly used as the auxiliary, though expressing a different sense; as, "Ye have come too late -- but ye are come. " "The minstrel boy to the war is gone." The present and imperfect tenses form, with the infinitive, a particular future tense, which expresses necessity, duty, or purpose; as, government is to be supported; we are to pay our just debts; the deed is to be signed to-morrow. Note: Have or had been, followed by to, implies movement. "I have been to Paris." --Sydney Smith. "Have you been to Franchard ?" --R. L. Stevenson. Note: Been, or ben, was anciently the plural of the indicative present. "Ye ben light of the world." --Wyclif, Matt. v. 14. Afterwards be was used, as in our Bible: "They that be with us are more than they that be with them." --2 Kings vi. 16. Ben was also the old infinitive: "To ben of such power." --R. of Gloucester. Be is used as a form of the present subjunctive: "But if it be a question of words and names." --Acts xviii. 15. But the indicative forms, is and are, with if, are more commonly used. Be it so, a phrase of supposition, equivalent to suppose it to be so; or of permission, signifying let it be so. --Shak. If so be, in case. To be from, to have come from; as, from what place are you ? I am from Chicago. To let be, to omit, or leave untouched; to let alone. "Let be, therefore, my vengeance to dissuade." --Spenser. Syn: To be, Exist. Usage: The verb to be, except in a few rare case, like that of Shakespeare's "To be, or not to be", is used simply as a copula, to connect a subject with its predicate; as, man is mortal; the soul is immortal. The verb to exist is never properly used as a mere copula, but points to things that stand forth, or have a substantive being; as, when the soul is freed from all corporeal alliance, then it truly exists. It is not, therefore, properly synonymous with to be when used as a copula, though occasionally made so by some writers for the sake of variety; as in the phrase "there exists [is] no reason for laying new taxes." We may, indeed, say, "a friendship has long existed between them," instead of saying, "there has long been a friendship between them;" but in this case, exist is not a mere copula. It is used in its appropriate sense to mark the friendship as having been long in existence.
Fu"ture\ (?; 135), a. [F. futur, L. futurus, used as fut. p. of esse to be, but from the same root as E. be. See Be, v. i.] That is to be or come hereafter; that will exist at any time after the present; as, the next moment is future, to the present. Future tense (Gram.), the tense or modification of a verb which expresses a future act or event.
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