DictionaryAI

tomorrow

tuh-MAH-roh/təˈmɑɹoʊ/tuh-MO-roh/təˈmɒɹəʊ/

Noun pluraltomorrows (some meanings)

6 meanings of tomorrow

Practice

  1. 1
    when (next day)adverb
    On the day immediately following today.

    The committee will announce its decision tomorrow.

    She promised to send the signed documents tomorrow afternoon.

    UsageNo preposition before it: leave tomorrow, tomorrow morning (not incorrect: on tomorrow).

    Oppositeyesterday

    Note

    Jonathan Swift writes "to morrow" as two words in 1711, and Charles Dickens still hyphenates "to-morrow" in 1855.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Jonathan Swift used the two-word spelling 'to morrow' in a poem written in 1711. en.wikisource.org
    • Charles Dickens used the hyphenated spelling 'to-morrow' in The Holly-Tree Inn, first published in 1855. fadedpage.com
  2. 2
    noununcountable
    The day immediately following today.

    Tomorrow brings another full round of meetings for the team.

    They postponed the product launch until tomorrow.

    UsageUsually no article: tomorrow is Friday, wait until tomorrow.

    Oppositeyesterday

    Note

    Dorothy Parker can still put a determiner before it, as in "your damned to-morrow".

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • Dorothy Parker used 'your damned to-morrow', with the determiner 'your', in her poem 'Godspeed'. poets.org
  3. 3
    the futurenouncountable or uncountable
    A period or time in the future.

    The exhibition invites visitors to imagine the city of tomorrow.

    Investing in good schools means investing in tomorrow.

    UsageOften after of or a possessive: the city of tomorrow, a better tomorrow, our tomorrows.

    Similarfuture

    Oppositepast, yesterday

    Note

    American Flint in 1965 hopes that "all of our tomorrows" will bring happiness, and a news story quoted by Alan S. Berger in 1978 describes a clinic facing "a lot of empty tomorrows". The plural turns time into a series of days still to come.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

    • American Flint published the quoted hope about future happiness in 1965. en.wiktionary.org
  4. 4
    adverb
    At a later, unspecified time; one day in the future.

    Politicians often promise that the hard choices will be made tomorrow, once the economy has recovered.

    They kept telling themselves they would start saving tomorrow.

    Similarlater, someday

    Oppositenow

Less common meanings

  1. 5
    adverbobsolete
    On the day following some specified date in the past.
    Note

    Here the day after is reckoned from a past moment rather than from now. Where the everyday adverb means the day after today, this one means the day after then. Robert Wodrow uses it in a letter of 1717, and James Kirkton's The Secret and True History of the Church of Scotland (1817) has a man found "stark dead to-morrow morning". Modern narrative says "the next day" or "the following morning".

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

    • Robert Wodrow used "to-morrow" for a day following a past event in a letter written in 1717. archive.org
    • James Kirkton wrote The Secret and True History of the Church of Scotland, first published in 1817. archive.org
    • Kirkton's history describes a man found "stark dead to-morrow morning". upload.wikimedia.org
  2. 6
    adverbdatedBritish
    Used before week, month and similar words to mean that length of time after tomorrow, as in tomorrow week.
    'You shall go to it on to-morrow week, so make haste and get well!'
    1840, “Melancholy Death of Amelia V”, in The Christian Guardian (and Church of England magazine)
    Resolved, &c. That the House be Called over again on Tomorrow Month, being the Six-and-twentieth Day of April next.
    1664, debate in Great Britain's House of Commons, printed in 1803 in the Journals of the House of Commons
    Note

    A way of counting ahead from tomorrow: tomorrow week is a week after tomorrow, often with on in front. A House of Commons resolution of 1664 sets the next call of the House for tomorrow month, and The Christian Guardian of 1840 has "on to-morrow week". Tomorrow week still turns up in British speech, where it never simply means next week.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • A House of Commons resolution dated 28 March 1664 schedules another call of the House for tomorrow month. en.wiktionary.org
    • The Christian Guardian contains the exact words "on to-morrow week" in 1840. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

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Origin

Old English tō morgne ("tomorrow") combined tō ("at, on") with morgne, the dative of morgen ("morning"), and became Middle English tomorwe. Morgen goes back to *murganaz, the Proto-Germanic word for "morning," and perhaps further to *mergʰ-, a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to blink, to twinkle."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts

  • Old English tō morgne meant “tomorrow.” en.wiktionary.org
  • The expression combined tō (“at, on”) with morgne, the dative of morgen (“morning”). en.wiktionary.org
  • Old English tō morgne developed into Middle English tomorwe. en.wiktionary.org
  • Morgen descends from Proto-Germanic *murganaz, meaning “morning.” en.wiktionary.org
  • A possible further origin is Proto-Indo-European *mergʰ-, meaning “to blink, to twinkle.” en.wiktionary.org