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forthcoming

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

11 characters

Language

English

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "forthcoming", 11-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "forthcoming" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "forthcoming" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

forthcoming is anEnglishadj. It means: Approaching or about to take place. Pronounced /fɔːθˈkʌmɪŋ/.

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Key facts for forthcoming
PropertyValue
Headwordforthcoming
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/fɔːθˈkʌmɪŋ/
Letters11
Frequency rank#10,368
Misspellings tracked18
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of forthcoming in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for forthcoming is 11 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fɔːθˈkʌmɪŋ/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,368 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 18 documented wrong-spelling variants for forthcoming, with forms such as "fforthcoming", "forhtcoming", and "forrthcoming". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“approaching (adjective)”); or from Middle English forth commyng, *forthcominge, present participle of forth-comen (“to come forth; to appear, issue”), from Old English forþcuman (“to come forth, co… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is forthcoming, spelled F-O-R-T-H-C-O-M-I-N-G, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Approaching or about to take place.
  2. 2
    Available when needed; in place, ready.
  3. 3
    Willing to co-operate or provide information; candid, frank, responsive.

Etymology

The adjective is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“approaching (adjective)”); or from Middle English forth commyng, *forthcominge, present participle of forth-comen (“to come forth; to appear, issue”), from Old English forþcuman (“to come forth, come forward”) (present participle *forþcumende), from forþ- (“forth; forward”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, in front; first”)) + cuman (“to come”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”)). Compare Dutch voortkomend (“coming forth, originating from (verb)”), German fortkommend (“getting away; progressing (verb)”). The noun is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“arrival”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: fforthcoming,forhtcoming,forrthcoming,fortchoming,forthccoming,forthcmoing,forthcoimng,forthcomign,forthcomingg,forthcominng,forthcomming,forthcomnig,forthhcoming,forthocming,fortthcoming,fotrhcoming,frothcoming,ofrthcoming

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for forthcoming

Misspelling Variants of "forthcoming"

fforthcoming12forhtcoming11forrthcoming12fortchoming11forthccoming12forthcmoing11forthcoimng11forthcomign11
Misspelling Variants of "forthcoming"

Frequency rank: #10,368 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "forthcoming"?
"forthcoming" is spelled F-O-R-T-H-C-O-M-I-N-G. The IPA pronunciation is /fɔːθˈkʌmɪŋ/.
What does "forthcoming" mean?
As an adj, "forthcoming" means: Approaching or about to take place.
What are common misspellings of "forthcoming"?
Common misspellings include "fforthcoming", "forhtcoming", "forrthcoming", "fortchoming", "forthccoming". The correct spelling is "forthcoming".
How do you pronounce "forthcoming"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "forthcoming" is /fɔːθˈkʌmɪŋ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "forthcoming"?
The adjective is derived from forth (“forwards”) + coming (“approaching (adjective)”); or from Middle English forth commyng, *forthcominge, present participle of forth-comen (“to come forth; to appear, issue”), from Old English forþcuman (“to come... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.