thereafter

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Middle English therafter, theraftir, þerefter, þerafter, þeræfter, from Old English þǣræfter (after that; thereafter), equivalent to there +‎ after. Cognate with Saterland Frisian deerätter (thereafter), West Frisian dêrefter (behind that; thereafter), Dutch daarachter (behind that; thereafter), German Low German daarachter (behind that), Danish derefter (thereafter), Swedish därefter (thereafter).

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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thereafter (not comparable)

  1. After that, from then on; thenceforth.
    He left; thereafter we never met again.
    • 1899, John Buchan, No Man's Land:
      The Lent term had pulled me down, a week of modest enjoyment thereafter in town had finished the work; and I drank in the sharp moorish air like a thirsty man who has been forwandered among deserts.
    • 1900, L. Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:
      "My third command to the Winged Monkeys," said Glinda, "shall be to carry you to your forest. Then, having used up the powers of the Golden Cap, I shall give it to the King of the Monkeys, that he and his band may thereafter be free for evermore."

Coordinate terms

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Translations

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Noun

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thereafter (countable and uncountable, plural thereafters)

  1. (uncommon) Synonym of hereafter (future existence or state).
  2. (poetic, uncommon) Synonym of hereafter (existence after death).
    • 2022, Jody Enders, Immaculate Deception and Further Ribaldries, →ISBN, page 243:
      A mimed sequence might enliven Johnny's visit to the great thereafter; or the battle royal might be painted on a backdrop.

See also

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Here-, there-, and where- words