come

Come is a verb in English with multiple core senses centered on movement toward a destination, arrival, or development. The primary sense describes going toward a place or person: to come here, to come to the table, to come home. It also covers events or results, as in “What came of your idea?” and “The project came to fruition.” In addition, come can indicate emergence or appearance of something (a new trend comes to light) or the onset of a state (the water came up).

Grammatical properties: Come is irregular. Present tense forms are I/you/we/they come and he/she/it comes. The past tense is came, and the past participle is come. The present participle is coming. It functions both intransitively and transitively (as in come a long way or come a visitor), and it often forms perfect aspect with have/has (has come).

Etymology: The word comes from Old English cuman and is cognate with Dutch komen and German kommen. It is derived from the Germanic family of languages and has parallels across related languages.

Usage and phrases: Common collocations include come here, come in, come along, come up with, come across, come to terms, and come to think of it. Many phrasal verb combinations with come convey motion toward something, arrival, appearance, or progression (come into being, come into fashion, come up with an idea).

Sexual sense: In informal usage, come can refer to sexual climax. This meaning is widely understood but is regarded as vulgar or inappropriate in formal contexts, and its acceptability varies by culture and setting. Overall, come is a versatile verb central to expressions of movement, occurrence, and progress.