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Origin and history of come

come(v.)

elementary intransitive verb of motion, Old English cuman "to move with the purpose of reaching, or so as to reach, some point; to arrive by movement or progression;" also "move into view, appear, become perceptible; come to oneself, recover; arrive; assemble" (class IV strong verb; past tense cuom, com, past participle cumen), from Proto-Germanic *kwem- (source also of Old Saxon cuman, Old Frisian kuma, Middle Dutch comen, Dutch komen, Old High German queman, German kommen, Old Norse koma, Gothic qiman), from PIE root *gwa- "to go, come."

The substitution of Middle English -o- for Old English -u- was a scribal habit before minims to avoid misreading the letters in the old style handwriting, which jammed them together (see U). Modern past tense form came is Middle English, probably from Old Norse kvam, replacing Old English cuom.

Meaning "to happen, occur" is from early 12c. (come to pass "happen, occur" is from 1520s). As an invitation to action, c. 1300; as a call or appeal to a person (often in expanded forms: "come, come," "come, now"), mid-14c. Come again? as an off-hand way of asking "what did you say?" is attested by 1884. For sexual senses, see cum.

Remarkably productive with prepositions (NTC's "Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs" lists 198 combinations); consider the varied senses in come to "regain consciousness," come over "possess" (as an emotion), come at "attack," come on (interj.) "be serious," and come off "occur, have some level of success" (1864). Among other common expressions are:

To come down with "become ill with" (a disease), 1895; come in, of a radio operator, "begin speaking," 1958; come on "advance in growth or development," c. 1600; come out, of a young woman, "make a formal entry into society," 1782; come round "return to a normal state or better condition," 1841; come through "act as desired or expected," 1914; come up "arise as a subject of attention," 1844; come up with "produce, present," 1934.

To have it coming "deserve what one suffers" is from 1904. To come right down to it "get to fundamental facts" is from 1875.

Entries linking to come

cum

verb ("to ejaculate") and noun ("semen"), by 1973, apparently a variant of come in the sexual sense that originated in pornographic writing, perhaps first in the noun. This "experience sexual orgasm" slang meaning of come (perhaps originally come off) is attested by 1650, in "Walking In A Meadowe Greene," in a folio of "loose songs" collected by Bishop Percy.

They lay soe close together,

they made me much to wonder;

I knew not which was wether,

vntill I saw her vnder.

then off he came & blusht for shame

soe soone that he had endit;

yet still shee lyes, & to him cryes,

"Once More, & none can mend it."

[mend = amend = "improve"]. It probably is older and disguised in puns, e.g. "I come, I come, sweet death, rock me a-sleep!" ["Nashe His Dildo," 1590s]

As a noun meaning "semen or other product of orgasm" come is attested by the 1920s.

The sexual cum seems to have no connection with Latin cum, the preposition meaning "with, together with, in connection with" (an archaic form of com; see com-) which English uses on occasion in names of combined parishes or benefices (such as Chorlton-cum-Hardy), in popular Latin phrases (such as cum laude), or as a combining word to indicate a dual nature or function (such as slumber party-cum-bloodbath).

alphabetic character, in early writing not always distinguished from V and W; for historical evolution, see V. U-turn is attested by 1921, for the shape of the course described by the vehicle.

Attested punningly for you by 1588 ["Love's Labour's Lost," V.i.60], not long after the pronunciation shift that made the vowel a homonym of the pronoun. As a simple shorthand for you (without intentional word-play), it is recorded by 1862. In the old British movie classification code (1922) it stood for universal, as "suitable for all ages" (equivalent of American G).

Common in business names since 1923 (U-Haul is attested by 1950), earlier in newspaper advertisements (u haul is attested by 1937 in classified ads for large items or lots that must be picked up by the purchaser; while-u-wait for suit cleaning, etc., is by 1911.

The substitution of Middle English -o- for Old English -u- before -m-, -n-, or -r- was a French scribal habit before minims to avoid misreading the letters in the old style handwriting, which jammed them together. The practice transformed some, come, monk, tongue, and worm.