Come

Pronuctuation

• UK IPA: /kÊŒm/, kʰɐm, enPR: kÅ­m
• US IPA: /kÊŒm/, kÊ°ÊŒm, enPR: kÅ­m
• Rhymes: -ÊŒm
• Homophones: cum

Etymology

From Middle English comen, cumen, from Old English coman, cuman ("to come, go, happen"), from Proto-Germanic *kwemaną ("to come"), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem-, *gʷém-, *gʷem-ye- ("to come, go, be born").

Full definition of come

Verb

1. (intransitive) To move from further away to nearer to.
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)Look, who comes yonder?
• Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)I did not come to curse thee.
2. (intransitive) To arrive.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 5, Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps,..., and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
3. (intransitive) To appear, to manifest itself.
• Samuel Butler (1613-1680), Hudibraswhen butter does refuse to come to form
4. (intransitive) To take a position to something else in a sequence.
5. (intransitive, slang) To achieve orgasm; to cum.
6. (copulative, figuratively, with close) To approach a state of being or accomplishment.
• 1898, Winston Churchill, The Celebrity Chapter 3, Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
7. (figuratively, with to) To take a particular approach or point of view in regard to something.
8. (copulative, archaic) To become, to turn out to be.
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616)How come you thus estranged?
9. (intransitive) To be supplied, or made available; to exist.
10. (slang) To carry through; to succeed in.
11. (intransitive) Happen.
12. (intransitive, with from)
1. To be or have been a resident or native.
2. (also with of) from a specific family
13. (intransitive, of grain) To germinate.

Usage notes

A few old texts use comen as the past participle.

The phrase "dream come true" is a set phrase; the verb "come" in the sense "become" is archaic outside of that set phrase

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The collocations “come with” and “come along” mean accompany, used as “Do you want to come with me?” and “Do you want to come along?” In the Midwestern American dialect, “come with” can occur without a following object, as in “Do you want to come with?” In this dialect, “with” can also be used in this way with some other verbs, such as “take with”. Examples of this may be found in plays by Chicagoan David Mamet, such as American Buffalo.

Chicago Dialect This objectless use is not permissible in other dialects.

Antonyms

• leave, go

Derived terms

Noun

1. (obsolete) Coming, arrival; approach.
• 1869, RD Blackmoore, Lorna Doone, II:“If we count three before the come of thee, thwacked thou art, and must go to the women.”
2. (slang) Semen, or female ejaculatory discharge.

Preposition

1. Used to indicate an event, period, or change in state occurring after a present time.Leave it to settle for about three months and, come Christmas time, you'll have a delicious concoctions to offer your guests.Come retirement, their Social Security may turn out to be a lot less than they counted on.
• November 10 2012, Amy Lawrence, Fulham's Mark Schwarzer saves late penalty in dramatic draw at ArsenalCome the final whistle, Mikel Arteta lay flabbergasted on the turf.

Usage notes

Came is often used when both the indicated event, period or change in state occurred in the past.

Interjection

1. An exclamation to express annoyance.
2. An exclamation to express encouragement, or to precede a request.
• 1908, W. B. M. Ferguson, Zollenstein Chapter 1, “I'm through with all pawn-games,” I laughed. “Come, let us have a game of lansquenet. Either I will take a farewell fall out of you or you will have your sevenfold revenge”.