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PlainSpell

come

/kʌm/verb, noun, preposition, interjection

come is spelled C-O-M-E: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 603 times per million words in written English, the 162nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “come vs cum” about 20 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, come means “To move nearer to the point of perspective” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in come?

Letters4: C-O-M-E
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing603 times per million words; the 162nd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search
Sounds like
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is come?

Come appears 603 times per million words in written English, the 162nd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce come?

  • UK /kʌm/
  • UK [kʰʌm] ~ [kʰɐm]
  • US /kʌm/

Come has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-to_come.ogg, En-us-come.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with come

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

come vs cum20 B

Sounds like: cum (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).

Also written: come come.

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

What rhymes with come?

8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as come from its last stressed vowel (/ʌm/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of come

  • comes present, singular, he/she/it
  • coming participle, present
  • came past, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • comen participle, past
  • coom

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does come mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To move nearer to the point of perspective.

    She’ll be coming round the mountain when she comes the wrong way […]

  2. 2

    To move toward the speaker.

    I called the dog, but she wouldn't come.

  3. 3

    To move toward the listener.

    Hold on, I'll come in a second.

  4. 4

    To move toward the object that is the focus of the sentence.

    No-one can find Bertie Wooster when his aunts come to visit.

  5. 5

    To move toward the agent or subject of the main clause.

    King Cnut couldn't stop the tide coming.

  6. 6

    To move toward an unstated agent.

    The butler should come when called.

  7. 7

    To arrive.

  8. 8

    To appear; to manifest itself; to cause a reaction by manifesting.

    The pain in his leg comes and goes.

noun

  1. 1

    obsoleteComing, arrival; approach.

  2. 2

    slangvulgarSemen.

    When a man uses a condom during sex, he takes all of his come with him, preventing her from getting pregnant.

  3. 3

    slangvulgarFemale ejaculatory discharge.

preposition

  1. 1

    Used to indicate a point in time at or after which a stated event or situation occurs.

    Leave it to settle for about three months and, come Christmas time, you'll have a delicious concoction to offer your guests.

interjection

  1. 1

    datedAn exclamation to express annoyance.

    Come, come! Stop crying.

  2. 2

    datedAn exclamation to express encouragement, or to precede a request.

    Come, come! You can do it.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Come in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchvenir (to move nearer), arriver (to arrive, to appear), jouir (to orgasm), devenir (to become)
Germankommen, choo, kemma (to move nearer), ankommen (to arrive, to appear)
Portuguesevir (to move nearer), chegar (to arrive, to appear), gozar, vir-se (to orgasm)
Spanishvenir (to move nearer), conllevar (to arrive, to appear), correrse, venirse, acabar (to orgasm)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does come come from?

From Middle English comen, cumen, from Old English cuman, from Proto-West Germanic *kweman, from Proto-Germanic *kwemaną (“to come”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷémt (“to step; to arrive”), from *gʷem- (“to come, step”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after come