Other forms: ensuing, ensued, ensues
To ensue is to happen as a result of what went before. Chaos ensued, a long silence ensued, in the days that ensued.
It appears almost always in the past tense and after a comma, reporting what followed. Ensuing, as an adjective, means the ones that came next, as in the ensuing weeks.
1verbensueTo happen as a result of what went before.
“A long argument ensued, and the meeting ran an hour late.”
ensue is a following.
Old French ensuivre comes from Latin insequi, to follow after.
Proto-Indo-European
*sekʷ-
Latin
īnsequere
English, today
ensue
Built from
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).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA