hereafter

• hereafters

From Old English hēræfter (“in the aftertime; later on”). By surface analysis, here +‎ after.

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

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

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, John Dryden, 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.)

• (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

• Category:English pronominal adverbs

hereafter (countable and uncountable, plural hereafters)

1. (uncommon) A future existence or state.

   Synonyms: thereafter, aftertime, see also Thesaurus:the future

2. (poetic, uncommon) Existence after death.

   Synonyms: thereafter, afterlife, eternal life, see also Thesaurus:life after death or Thesaurus:afterlife

   • 1712, Joseph Addison, 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.

• sweet hereafter

hereafter (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Future.

• unborn; see also Thesaurus:future

• featherer