[inf. of BE v. as sb. and a.; cf. BE v. B. 24.]
A. as sb. That which is to be; the future. Cf. to-come, s.v. COME v. 32 c.
1819. Byron, Venice, ii. The everlasting to be which hath been.
1838. Lytton, Alice, VI. ii. The To Be is as the shadow of a far land in a mighty and perturbed sea.
1847. Tennyson, Princess, VII. 273. These twain … Sit side by side,… Dispensing harvest, sowing the To-be.
1900. Marie Corelli, Master-Christian, xvi. I work and write for the To-Be, not the Has-Been.
B. as adj. phrase (often following the sb.). That is yet to be or to come; future.
c. 1600. Shaks., Sonn., lxxxi. Toungues to be, your beeing shall rehearse.
a. 1804. Nelson, in Nicolas, Disp., II. 457. Marry … speedily, or the to be Mrs. Berry will have very little of your company.
1860. Mrs. Edkins, Chinese Scenes & People (1863), 102. The four to-be priests I knew before, so I felt interested in the ordination.
