English Word Reference Free

come

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Browse Words → Compare Confusables

By · Reviewed against Wiktionary & Hunspell sources ·

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "come", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "come" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "come" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

come is aEnglishverb. It means: To move nearer to the point of perspective. Pronounced /kʌm/. It ranks #161 in English word frequency. Often confused with cop and con.

Key facts for come
PropertyValue
Headwordcome
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/kʌm/
Letters4
Frequency rank#161
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of come in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for come is 4 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kʌm/. Corpus data places it at rank #161 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 25 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for come, with forms such as "ccome", "cmoe", and "coem". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cop", "con", "cow", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). Cognates Cognate from Proto-Germanic… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is come, spelled C-O-M-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To move nearer to the point of perspective.
  2. 2
    To move nearer to the point of perspective.
  3. 3
    To move nearer to the point of perspective.
  4. 4
    To move nearer to the point of perspective.
  5. 5
    To move nearer to the point of perspective.
  6. 6
    To move nearer to the point of perspective.
  7. 7
    To arrive.
  8. 8
    To appear; to manifest itself; to cause a reaction by manifesting.
  9. 9
    To begin (to have an opinion or feeling).
  10. 10
    To do something by chance or unintentionally.
  11. 11
    To take a position relative to something else in a sequence.
  12. 12
    To achieve orgasm; to cum; to ejaculate.
  13. 13
    To become butter by being churned.
  14. 14
    To approach or reach a state of being or accomplishment.
  15. 15
    To take a particular approach or point of view in regard to something.
  16. 16
    To become, to turn out to be (often in set phrases and certain collocations).
  17. 17
    To be supplied, or made available; to exist.
  18. 18
    To carry through; to succeed in.
  19. 19
    To happen.
  20. 20
    To have as an origin, originate.
  21. 21
    To have as an origin, originate.
  22. 22
    To have as an origin, originate.
  23. 23
    To have as an origin, originate.
  24. 24
    To germinate.
  25. 25
    To pretend to be; to behave in the manner of; to assume the role of.

Etymology

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”). Cognates Cognate from Proto-Germanic with Scots cum (“to come”), Yola come, coome, cum (“to come”), North Frisian kaame, kame, keem, kem, kum, kååme, käme (“to come”), Saterland Frisian kume, kuume (“to come”), West Frisian komme (“to come”), Alemannic German cha, cheemen, cheme, cho, chomu, chéeme (“to come”), Bavarian ckeman, kemma, kemman, khemen, kumma, kumman, kèmmin (“to come”), Central Franconian komme, kunn, kumme (“to come”), Cimbrian ken, khemmen, khèmman (“to come”), Dutch komen, kommen (“to come”), Dutch Low Saxon kåmen (“to come”), German and Luxembourgish kommen (“to come”), Low German kamen, kuemen (“to come”), Mòcheno kemmen (“to come”), Yiddish קימען (kimen), קומען (kumen, “to come”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål komme (“to come”), Elfdalian kumå (“to come”), Faroese and Icelandic koma (“to come; to arrive”), Jamtish kuma (“to come”), Norwegian Nynorsk koma, komma, komme, kåmmå, kåmå (“to come”), Swedish komma (“to come”), Crimean Gothic kommen (“to come”), Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (qiman, “to come”). Cognate from Proto-Indo-European with Latin venio (“to come; to approach”), Greek βήμα (víma, “pace, step”), Albanian ngah, ngaj (“to hasten, run”), Latvian dzimt (“to be born”), Lithuanian gimti (“to be born”), Armenian եկ (ek, “the act of coming, arrival; income”), Avestan 𐬔𐬀𐬨 (gam, “to come, go”), Northern Kurdish gav (“step”), Persian گام (gâm, “step”), Tocharian A kum- (“to come”), Tocharian B käm- (“to come”), Sanskrit गम् (gam, “to come, go, move”).

Antonyms

leavegodepartexitwithdrawretreatflee

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ccome,cmoe,coem,comme,ocme

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for come

Misspelling Variants of "come"

ccome5cmoe4coem4comme5ocme4
Misspelling Variants of "come"

Frequency rank: #161 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "come"?
"come" is spelled C-O-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kʌm/.
What does "come" mean?
As a verb, "come" means: To move nearer to the point of perspective.
What words are commonly confused with "come"?
"come" is commonly confused with "cop", "con", "cow". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "come"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "come" is /kʌm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "come"?
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”). Cognates Cognate from Prot... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index:

All "C" wordsABCDEFGHIJKL

Explore PlainSpell

English Words

Browse all English

Words: C

Browse "c" words

Confusable Pairs

Commonly confused words

Spelling Guides

Tips & reference

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.