Added 10 October 2026

would

/wəd/ verb

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about would at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Past tense of will; usually followed by a bare infinitive. Used to form the "anterior future", or "future in the past", indicating a futurity relative to a past time. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
On my first day at University, I met the woman who would become my wife.
Used to form the "anterior future", or "future in the past", indicating a futurity relative to a past time. .mw-parser-output .defdate{font-size:smaller}
On my first day at University, I met the woman who would become my wife.
Used to, did repeatedly, habitually; indicates an action that happened several times in the past (cannot describe continuous states, as in I used to live in London)
When we were younger, we would cycle out to the beach most summer Sundays.

Something that would happen, or would be the case, under different circumstances; a potentiality.

From Old English wolde, past tense of willan, predecessor of will. The loss of /l/ in this word is probably due to weak stress, as in should and could (though in the latter, the /l/ was due to the analogy of the former two).