ensue

English

Etymology

From Old French ensu-, stem of some conjugated forms of ensuivre (“follow close upon, come afterward”) (French ensuivre), from Latin īnsequere, from īnsequi (“to pursue, follow, follow after; come next”), from in- (“upon”) (see in-) + sequi (“follow”) (see sequel).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsjuː/, /ɪnˈʃuː/, /ɛnˈsjuː/, /ɛnˈʃuː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈsuː/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /enˈsjʉː/
• Rhymes: -uː

Verb

ensue (third-person singular simple present ensues, present participle ensuing, simple past and past participle ensued)

1. (obsolete, transitive) To follow (a leader, inclination etc.). [15th–17th c.]
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, IV.ii:

     to ripenesse of mans state they grew: / Then shewing forth signes of their fathers blood, / They loued armes, and knighthood did ensew, / Seeking aduentures [...].

   • 1606, G. W. Justine, transl., The Historie of Justine:

     To ensue his example in doynge the like mischiefe.

2. (obsolete, transitive) To follow (in time), to be subsequent to. [15th–17th c.]
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, Essays, III.11:

     Oh how many changes are like to ensue this reformation!

3. (intransitive) To occur afterwards, as a result or effect. [from 16th c.]

   Give three freshmen six bottles of wine, and hilarity will ensue.

   • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:

     After ſo bad a beginning, whats like to inſue?

   • 1960 December, “Talking of Trains: The riding of B.R. coaches”, in Trains Illustrated, page 705:

     Nor, having married coach and bogie design successfully, does it follow that good riding will ensue, whatever the track carrying it—as the performance of B.R. standard coaches on flat-bottom, concrete-sleepered track bears witness.

Synonyms

• (to follow): carry out, follow, pursue
• (to be subsequent to): come after, follow; see also Thesaurus:succeed
• (to occur afterwards): arise, follow

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *sekʷ- (3 c, 0 e)

Translations

to occur as consequence

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bulgarian: последвам (bg) (posledvam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 接踵而來／接踵而来 (zh) (jiēzhǒngérlái)

• Czech: následovat (cs), vyplývat (cs), plynout (cs)
• Danish: følge
• Dutch: erop volgen, daarop volgen
• Esperanto: rezulti (eo), sekvi
• Finnish: seurata (fi), olla seurauksena
• French: résulter (fr), découler (fr)
• Georgian: გაყოლა (gaq̇ola)
• German: folgen (de), ansetzen (de), erfolgen (de), nachfolgen (de), resultieren (de), sich ergeben (de), sich einstellen (de), eintreten (de), ansetzen (de)
• Greek: επακολουθώ (el) (epakolouthó)
• Hungarian: következik (hu), származik (hu), ered (hu)
• Italian: seguire (it), conseguire (it)
• Japanese: 続く (ja) (tsuzuku)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: etterfølge

• Polish: wynikać (pl), następować (pl)
• Portuguese: resultar (pt), seguir-se
• Russian: сле́довать (ru) (slédovatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: slijediti (sh)
• Spanish: seguirse (es), resultar (es), sobrevenir (es), avenir (es), advenir (es), ocurrir (es), acontecer (es), acaecer (es), subseguir (es)
• Swedish: bli följden
• Turkish: ardından gelmek, doğmak (tr), izlemek (tr), sonradan gelmek, sonucu olmak, takip etmek (tr)
• Vietnamese: theo sau

Anagrams

• seuen, unsee