following

English

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /ˈfɒləʊɪŋ/, X-SAMPA: /"fQl@UIN/
• (GenAm) IPA: /ˈfɑloʊɪŋ/, X-SAMPA: /"fAloUIN/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fol‧low‧ing

Adjective

following (not comparable)

1. Coming next, either in sequence or in time

   See the following section.

2. About to be specified

   The following words have no definition . . .

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

   The following wind sped us on our way.

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.

Antonyms

• abovementioned
• aforementioned
• aforesaid

Translations

next in sequence or time

• Arabic: تالي (ar) (Taali)
• Czech: následující (cs)
• Danish: følgende (da), næste (da)
• Dutch: volgende (nl)
• Esperanto: sekvinta (eo), sekvanta (eo)
• Finnish: seuraava (fi)
• French: suivant (fr)
• German: folgend (de), anschließend (de), nachstehend (de)

• Greek: ακόλουθος (el) (akólouthos) m (akólouthos)
• Interlingua: sequente (ia)
• Polish: następny (pl) m, następujący (pl) m
• Portuguese: seguinte (pt)
• Russian: следующий (ru) (sl'édujuš'ij)
• Spanish: siguiente (es)
• Turkish: ertesi (tr)

to be specified

• Danish: næste (da)
• Esperanto: jena (eo)
• Finnish: seuraava (fi)
• French: suivant (fr), ci-après (fr)
• German: folgend (de), nachstehend (de)

• Greek: εξής (el) (exís) (exís), ακόλουθος (el) (akólouthos) m (akólouthos)
• Portuguese: seguinte (pt)
• Russian: следующий (ru) (sl'édujuš'ij)
• Spanish: próximo (es)
• Turkish: müteakkip (tr), sonraki (tr)

wind blowing in the direction of travel

• Finnish: myötäinen (fi)
• French: favorable (fr)

• German: folgend (de)
• Russian: попутный (ru) (popútnyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Latin: sequens

Preposition

following

1. After, subsequent to.

   Following the meeting, we all had a chat.

Translations

subsequent to

• Danish: efter (da)
• Finnish: jälkeen (fi)

• French: après (fr), postérieurement à (fr), à la suite de (fr)
• German: folgend (de), nach (de)

Noun

following (plural followings)

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

   He had a loyal following.

   • 2011 September 29, Jon Smith, “Tottenham 3 - 1 Shamrock Rovers”, BBC Sport:

     And White Hart Lane was stunned when Rovers scored just five minutes after the restart in front of their away following.

2. Something to be mentioned immediately later. Used with the definite article the.

   The following is a recommendation letter from the president.

3. Vocation; business; profession.

Translations

group of followers

• Danish: følge (da) n
• Finnish: kannattajakunta (fi)
• French: mouvance (fr)

• German: Anhänger (de) f pl, Anhängerschaft (de) f, Gefolge (de) n, Gefolgschaft (de) f, Fangemeinde (de) f
• Russian: аудитория (ru) (auditorija) f

Statistics

• Most common English words before 1923: business · mean · manner · #385: following · fell · different · care