Suivant

Suivant is a French adjective meaning “following” or “next.” It is also used as a noun to refer to the person or thing that comes after. The masculine singular form is suivant; feminine is suivante; masculine plural suivants; feminine plural suivantes. In common phrases it appears in the sense of the items that come after in a sequence, for example les éléments suivants = the following items, or les sections suivantes. It is frequently seen in formal writing and in user interfaces, such as Bouton Suivant in software menus or documents that read “conformément aux dispositions suivantes” (in accordance with the following provisions).

Etymology and usage history: suivant derives from the present participle of suivre, the French verb “to follow.” The root traces back to Latin subsequens, from sub- “under” + sequens “following.” The word has been part of French vocabulary since the medieval period and remains common in both everyday language and official or procedural contexts.

Modern usage and variants: in contemporary French, suivant is widely used to refer to items or provisions that come next, as a spatial or logical sequence. It also functions as a noun in phrases like “le suivant” meaning “the next one.” In signage and interfaces, the form Suivant is often capitalized as a label on a button or link. Related phrases include les éléments suivants, les points suivants, and the concept of “à suivre” (to be continued), though that expression uses a different construction.

Cross-linguistic cognates: related words exist in other Romance languages. Spanish siguiente, Portuguese seguinte, and Italian seguente or successivo share the same semantic field of “the following/next.” English cognates include subsequent and following.