Definition

1. Adverb:

   • Following this in time or order or place; after this: Used to refer to a point in time or a sequence that comes immediately after the present moment or the current point in a text.
   • In a future life or state: Used to refer to existence after death or in a future spiritual state.
   • In a subsequent part of this document or statement or matter etc.: Used in formal or legal writing to indicate that something will be mentioned or explained later in the same text.

2. Noun:

   • The time yet to come; the future: The period of time that will exist after the present.
   • Life after death: Existence or a state of being following physical death.

Usage Examples

• Adverb:

  • Hereafter, you will no longer receive an allowance. (This means starting from now, the allowance will stop.)
  • He believed he would be reunited with his family hereafter. (This refers to a belief in a future life after death.)
  • The terms specified hereafter are legally binding. (This directs the reader to the terms that follow in the document.)

• Noun:

  • We must plan for the hereafter. (This refers to planning for the future in general.)
  • Many religions have beliefs about the hereafter. (This refers specifically to concepts of an afterlife.)

Advanced Usage

• "Hereinafter": A more formal variant of the adverbial sense meaning "in the following part of this document." It is often used in contracts and legal texts.

  • The property, hereinafter referred to as "the premises,"...

• "Hereunder": Similar to "hereinafter," meaning "under or in accordance with this writing or document."

  • The obligations listed hereunder must be fulfilled.

Variants and Related Words

• Hereinafter (adv.): In the following part of this document or statement.
• Hereunder (adv.): Under or pursuant to this document.
• Afterlife (n.): A life or existence believed to follow death; a synonym for the noun sense of "hereafter."

Synonyms

• Henceforth (adv.): From this time onward. (Note: "Henceforth" is very close in meaning to the first adverbial sense but does not carry the "in this document" or "afterlife" meanings.)
• Subsequently (adv.): At a later time; afterward.
• The future (n.): The time that is to come.
• The afterlife (n.): Life after death.

Related Phrases

• In the hereafter: This phrase is used with the noun to specify the context of the future or afterlife.
  • Do you believe in rewards and punishments in the hereafter?

Idioms

Note: "Hereafter" itself is a formal word and is not commonly used in idiomatic expressions. Its usage is typically direct, as shown in the examples.

Adverb

1. following this in time or order or place; after this
   • hereafter you will no longer receive an allowance
2. in a future life or state
   • hope to win salvation hereafter
3. in a subsequent part of this document or statement or matter etc.
   • the landlord demises unto the tenant the premises hereinafter called the demised premises
   • the terms specified hereunder

Noun

1. the time yet to come
2. life after death