The origin of the word come

English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

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”), from *gʷem- (“to step”).

cognates

Cognate from Proto-Germanic with Scots cum (“to come”), Saterland Frisian kuume (“to come”), West Frisian komme (“to come”), Low German kamen (“to come”), Dutch komen (“to come”), German kommen (“to come”), Norwegian Bokmål and Danish komme (“to come”), Swedish komma (“to come”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic koma (“to come”).

Cognate from PIE via Latin veniō (“come, arrive”) with many Romance language terms (e.g., French venir, Portuguese vir, Spanish venir), Lithuanian gimti (“to be born, come into the world, arrive”), with terms in Iranian languages (e.g. Avestan 𐬘𐬀𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌‎ (jamaiti, “to go”)), via Sanskrit गच्छति (gácchati, “to go”) with many Indic language terms (e.g., Hindi गति (gati)).

Cognate to English basis, from PIE via Ancient Greek.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /kʌm/, [kʰɐm], enPR: kŭm
  • (General American) IPA(key): /kʌm/, [kʰʌm], enPR: kŭm

There is also an occasional weak form kəm. See c’mon.

  • Rhymes: -ʌm
  • Homophone: cum

Verb[edit]

come (third-person singular simple present comes, present participle coming, simple past came or (now nonstandard) come, past participle come or (rare) comen)

  1. (intransitive) To move from further away to nearer to.

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

    • c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:

      Look, who comes yonder?

    • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Guinevere”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 253:

      Yet think not that I come to urge thy crimes, / I did not come to curse thee, Guinevere, […]

    1. To move towards the speaker.

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

      Stop dawdling and come here!

    2. To move towards the listener.

      Hold on, I’ll come in a second.

      You should ask the doctor to come to your house.

    3. To move towards the object that is the focus of the sentence.

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

      Hundreds of thousands of people come to Disneyland every year.

    4. (in subordinate clauses and gerunds) To move towards the agent or subject of the main clause.

      King Cnut couldn’t stop the tide coming.

      He threw the boomerang, which came right back to him.

    5. To move towards an unstated agent.

      The butler should come when called.

  2. (intransitive) To arrive.

    • 1667 June 23 (date written; Gregorian calendar)​, Samuel Pepys; Mynors Bright, transcriber, “June 13th, 1667”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume VI, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1895, →OCLC, page 364:

      Late at night comes Mr. Hudson, the cooper, my neighbour, and tells me that he come from Chatham this evening at five o’clock, and saw this afternoon «The Royal James,» «Oake,» and «London,» burnt by the enemy with their fire-ships: […]

    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

      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.

    • 2013 January 11 [1997], David Bell; Gill Valentine, Consuming Geographies: We Are Where We Eat‎[1], Routledge, →ISBN, page 140:

      So I’d have ate when me Dad had ate, sort of thing, I think, you know when he come home from work, I’d have waited for him, I wouldn’t have said I wanted mine at four o’clock […]

  3. (intransitive) To appear, to manifest itself.

    The pain in his leg comes and goes.

    • 1662, [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge: University Press, 1905, →OCLC:

      when butter does refuse to come [i.e., to form]

  4. (with an infinitive) To begin to have an opinion or feeling.

    We came to believe that he was not so innocent after all.

    She came to think of that country as her home.

  5. (with an infinitive) To do something by chance, without intending to do it.

    Could you tell me how the document came to be discovered?

  6. (intransitive) To take a position relative to something else in a sequence.

    Which letter comes before Y?   Winter comes after autumn.

  8. (intransitive, vulgar, slang) To achieve orgasm; to cum; to ejaculate.

    • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, chapter 2, in The Line of Beauty, New York: Bloomsbury, →OCLC:

      Nick was more and more seriously absorbed, but then just before he came he had a brief vision of himself, as if the trees and bushes had rolled away and all the lights of London shone in on him: little Nick Guest from Barwick, Don and Dot Guest’s boy, fucking a stranger in a Notting Hill garden at night.

    • 2008, Philip Roth, Indignation:

      The sheer unimaginableness of coming into her mouth — of coming into anything other than the air or a tissue or a dirty sock — was an allurement too stupendous for a novice to forswear.

    He came after a few minutes.

    Come in me!

  9. (intransitive, of milk) To become butter by being churned.
  10. (copulative, figuratively, with close) To approach a state of being or accomplishment.

    They came very close to leaving on time.   His test scores came close to perfect.

    One of the screws came loose, and the skateboard fell apart.

  11. (figuratively, with to) To take a particular approach or point of view in regard to something.

    He came to SF literature a confirmed technophile, and nothing made him happier than to read a manuscript thick with imaginary gizmos and whatzits.

  12. (copulative, fossil word) To become, to turn out to be.

    He was a dream come true.

    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

      How come you thus estranged?

  13. (intransitive) To be supplied, or made available; to exist.

    He’s as tough as they come.

    Our milkshakes come in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavours.

    A new sports car doesn’t come cheap.

  14. (slang) To carry through; to succeed in.

    You can’t come any tricks here.

  15. (intransitive) Happen.

    This kind of accident comes when you are careless.

    • 2014 June 14, “It’s a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

      But out of sight is out of mind. And that […] means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair. If that repair does not come in time, the result is noxious and potentially hazardous.

  16. (intransitive, with from or sometimes of) To have as an origin, originate.
    1. To have a certain social background.

      • 2011, Kate Gramich, chapter 3, in Kate Roberts, University of Wales Press, →ISBN, page 46:

        While Kate Roberts came from a poor background and, later in life, in the post-Second World War period suffered from severe money shortages, in the early 1930s, she and her husband must have counted themselves relatively well off, particularly in comparison with their neighbours in Tonypandy.

    2. To be or have been a resident or native.

      Where did you come from?

    3. To have been brought up by or employed by.

      She comes from a good family.

      He comes from a disreputable legal firm.

    4. To begin (at a certain location); to radiate or stem (from).

      The river comes from Bear Lake.

      Where does this road come from?

  17. (intransitive, of grain) To germinate.
  18. (transitive, informal) To pretend to be; to behave in the manner of.

    Don’t come the innocent victim. We all know who’s to blame here.

    • 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy’s Progress. […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:

      “Hush! hush! Mr. Sikes,” said the Jew, trembling; “don’t speak so loud!” / “None of your mistering,” replied the ruffian; “you always mean mischief when you come that. You know my name: out with it! I shan’t disgrace it when the time comes.”

Usage notes[edit]

In its general sense, come specifically marks motion towards the deictic centre, (whether explicitly stated or not). Its counterpart, usually referring to motion away from or not involving the deictic centre, is go. For example, the sentence «Come to the tree» implies contextually that the speaker is already at the tree — «Go to the tree» often implies that the speaker is elsewhere. Either the speaker or the listener can be the deictic centre — the sentences «I will go to you» and «I will come to you» are both valid, depending on the exact nuances of the context. When there is no clear speaker or listener, the deictic centre is usually the focus of the sentence or the topic of the piece of writing. «Millions of people came to America from Europe» would be used in an article about America, but «Millions of people went to America from Europe» would be used in an article about Europe.

When used with adverbs of location, come is usually paired with here or hither. In interrogatives, come usually indicates a question about source — «Where are you coming from?» — while go indicates a question about destination — «Where are you going?» or «Where are you going to?»

A few old texts use comen as the past participle. Also, in some dialects, like rural Scots and rural Midlands dialects, the form comen is still occasionally in use, so phrases like the following can still be encountered there — Sa thoo bist comen heyr to nim min ‘orse frae mee, then? [sä ðuː bɪst cʊmn̩ hiər tə nɪm miːn ɔːrs frə miː | d̪ɛn] (so you have come here to steal my horse from me, then?).

Formerly the verb be was used as the auxiliary instead of have, for example, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

The phrase «dream come true» is a set phrase; the verb «come» in the sense «become» is archaic outside of some set phrases like come about, come loose, come true and come undone.

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.[1] This objectless use is not permissible in other dialects.

The meaning of to ejaculate is considered vulgar slang. Many style guides and editors recommend the spelling come for verb uses while strictly allowing the spelling cum for the noun. Both spellings are sometimes found in either the noun or verb sense, however. Others prefer to distinguish in formality, using come for any formal usage and cum only in slang, erotic or pornographic contexts.[2]

Conjugation[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
  • leave, go, depart, exit, withdraw, retreat, flee
Derived terms[edit]
  • a bad penny always comes back
  • a long time in coming
  • after Saturday comes Sunday
  • again-coming
  • all good things come to an end
  • all good things must come to an end
  • all is fish that comes to the net
  • all things come to those who wait
  • appetite comes with eating
  • as they come
  • backward in coming forward
  • bad comes to worse
  • bad comes to worst
  • bad things come in threes
  • become
  • big things come in small packages
  • blow to kingdom come
  • burn that bridge when one comes to it
  • can I come in
  • Christmas comes but once a year
  • Christmas is coming
  • come a cropper
  • come a gutser
  • come a long way
  • come about
  • come across
  • come across with
  • come after
  • come again
  • come alive
  • come aloft
  • come along
  • come and go
  • come apart
  • come around
  • come as no surprise
  • come at
  • come at a cost
  • come away
  • come away empty
  • come back
  • come back from the dead
  • come back to bite
  • come back to haunt
  • come back to one’s senses
  • come before
  • come between
  • come by
  • Come By Chance
  • come calling
  • come clean
  • come correct
  • come down
  • come down cats and dogs
  • come down in stair rods
  • come down in the last shower
  • come down on
  • come down the line
  • come down the pike
  • come down the road
  • come down to
  • come down to earth
  • come down to us
  • come down with
  • come ‘ead
  • come ed
  • come ‘ed
  • come first
  • come for
  • come forth
  • come forward
  • come from
  • come from a Cracker Jack box
  • come from a good place
  • come from behind
  • come from the right place
  • come full circle
  • come good
  • come hand
  • come head
  • come hell or high water
  • come here to me
  • come high
  • come hither
  • come home
  • come home by weeping cross
  • come home to roost
  • come in
  • come in for
  • come in from the cold
  • come in from the cold
  • come in handy
  • come in hot
  • come in use
  • come in useful
  • come into
  • come into being
  • come into effect
  • come into force
  • come into one’s own
  • come into play
  • come into the world
  • come it
  • come it strong
  • come low
  • come of
  • come of age
  • come off
  • come off it
  • come on
  • come on down
  • come on over
  • come on strong
  • come on to
  • come one’s way
  • come online
  • come onto
  • come out
  • come out in
  • come out in the wash
  • come out of one’s shell
  • come out of the broom closet
  • come out of the closet
  • come out of the woodwork
  • come out smelling like a rose
  • come out smelling of roses
  • come out swinging
  • come out with
  • come over
  • come rain or shine
  • come right
  • come round
  • come running
  • come short
  • come the acid
  • come the old acid
  • come the old soldier
  • come the old soldier
  • come the raw prawn
  • come thick and fast
  • come through
  • come to
  • come to a boil
  • come to a close
  • come to a head
  • come to a sticky end
  • come to a stop
  • come to an end
  • come to bat
  • come to bed
  • come to blows
  • come to find out
  • come to grief
  • come to grips
  • come to grips with
  • come to hand
  • come to Jesus
  • come to life
  • come to light
  • come to mention it
  • come to mind
  • come to naught
  • come to nothing
  • come to nought
  • come to one’s hand
  • come to one’s senses
  • come to oneself
  • come to order
  • come to papa
  • come to pass
  • come to power
  • come to rest
  • come to someone’s aid
  • come to someone’s rescue
  • come to terms
  • come to terms with
  • come to that
  • come to the party
  • come to the scratch
  • come to think of it
  • come to time
  • come together
  • come true
  • come under
  • come undone
  • come unhinged
  • come unstuck
  • come up
  • come up from behind
  • come up roses
  • come up smelling like a rose
  • come up smelling of roses
  • come up snake eyes
  • come up to
  • come up trumps
  • come up with
  • come up with snake eyes
  • come up with the goods
  • come up with the rations
  • come upon
  • come upon the town
  • come what may
  • come with
  • come with the territory
  • come Yorkshire over
  • come-all-ye
  • come-all-you
  • come-along
  • come-around
  • come-at-able
  • come-down
  • come-here
  • come-hither
  • come-hithery
  • come-o’-will
  • come-off
  • come-on
  • come-outer
  • come-outerism
  • come-outism
  • come-over
  • come-to-bed
  • come-to-Jesus
  • come-uppance
  • comedown
  • coming and going
  • coming into force
  • coming of age
  • coming out of someone’s ears
  • coming through
  • coming together
  • coming-of-age
  • coming-out party
  • cross a bridge before one comes to it
  • cross that bridge when one comes to it
  • cut and come again
  • cut-and-come-again
  • Daniel come to judgement
  • do you come here often
  • downcome
  • dream come true
  • first come first served
  • first-come-first-served
  • forecome
  • forthcome
  • get what’s coming to one
  • good things come in small packages
  • good things come in threes
  • good things come to those who wait
  • have another thing coming
  • have another think coming
  • have another thought coming
  • hold come what may
  • how came you so
  • how come
  • how’s come
  • if the mountain won’t come to Muhammad
  • Johnny-come-lately
  • Jonny-come-lately
  • March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb
  • marry come up
  • misfortunes never come alone
  • misfortunes never come singly
  • non-coming
  • not know whether one is coming or going
  • off-come
  • on the come
  • oncome
  • oncoming
  • one of these odd-come-shortlies
  • pride comes before a fall
  • proverbs come in pairs
  • proverbs often come in pairs
  • proverbs should come in pairs
  • put two and two together and come up with five
  • seven come eleven
  • take something as it comes
  • thanks for coming
  • thanks for coming to my TED Talk
  • the bad penny always comes back
  • the British are coming
  • the call is coming from inside the house
  • the chickens come home to roost
  • the handbags come out
  • the time has come
  • the wheels came off
  • the wheels came off the bus
  • the wheels came off the wagon
  • there’s more where that came from
  • think all one’s Christmases have come at once
  • this is where I came in
  • this is where we came in
  • ’til the cows come home
  • till the cow come home
  • till the cows come home
  • to come
  • to-come
  • tomorrow never comes
  • until Kingdom come
  • until the cows come
  • until the cows come home
  • up and coming
  • upcome
  • upcoming
  • what goes around comes around
  • what goes up must come down
  • what’s bred in the bone will come out in the flesh
  • when it comes to
  • when one’s ship comes in
  • when push comes to shove
  • when two Sundays come together
  • where I come from
  • where someone is coming from
  • world to come
  • worst comes to worst
[edit]
  • c’mere
  • c’min
  • c’mon
Translations[edit]

to move nearer

  • Abkhaz: аара (aara)
  • Adyghe: къэкӏон (qekʷʼon)
  • Afrikaans: kom (af)
  • Akan: bra
  • Albanian: vij (sq)
  • Arabic: جَاءَ‎ (ar) (jāʔa), أَتَى‎ (ar) (ʔatā)
    Egyptian Arabic: جا‎ (gā), جه‎ (geh)
    Hijazi Arabic: جا‎ (jā)
    North Levantine Arabic: إجا‎ (ʾijā)
    Tunisian Arabic: جاء‎ (jāʾ)
  • Armenian: գալ (hy) (gal)
  • Aromanian: vin, yin
  • Assamese: আহ (ah)
  • Asturian: venir (ast)
  • Avestan: 𐬘𐬀𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬙𐬌‎ (jamaiti)
  • Azerbaijani: gəlmək (az)
  • Bakhtiari: اودن‎ (aweðen)
  • Balinese: teka
  • Basque: etorri
  • Bavarian: kemma
  • Belarusian: прыбыва́ць impf (prybyvácʹ), прыбы́ць pf (prybýcʹ); (on foot) прыхо́дзіць impf (pryxódzicʹ), прыйсці́ pf (pryjscí); (by vehicle) прыязджа́ць impf (pryjazdžácʹ), прые́хаць pf (pryjéxacʹ)
  • Bengali: আসা (bn) (aśa)
  • Borôro: aregodu
  • Brahui: barr
  • Bulgarian: и́двам (bg) impf (ídvam), до́йда pf (dójda)
  • Burmese: လာ (my) (la)
  • Catalan: venir (ca)
  • Chagatai: کلادو‎ (kelādū)
  • Chechen: лела (lela)
  • Chinese:
    Cantonese: 嚟 (yue) (lei4; lai4)
    Dungan: лэ (le)
    Mandarin: 來／来 (zh) (lái)
    Min Dong: 來／来 (lì)
    Wu: 來／来 (le)
  • Classical Nahuatl: huītz
  • Crimean Tatar: kelmek
  • Czech: přicházet (cs) impf, přijít (cs) pf; přijíždět impf, přijet (cs) pf (by transport)
  • Dalmatian: vener
  • Danish: komme (da)
  • Dolgan: кэл (kel)
  • Dutch: komen (nl)
  • Egyptian: (jj), (jwj)
  • Esperanto: veni (eo)
  • Estonian: tulema (et)
  • Faroese: koma (fo)
  • Fataluku: ma’u
  • Finnish: tulla (fi)
  • French: venir (fr)
  • Friulian: vignî
  • Galician: vir (gl)
  • Georgian: მისვლა (misvla), ჩამოსვლა (čamosvla)
  • German: kommen (de)
    Alemannic German: choo
  • Greek: έρχομαι (el) (érchomai)
    Ancient: ἀφικνέομαι (aphiknéomai), ἔρχομαι (érkhomai), ἱκνέομαι (hiknéomai), ἱκάνω (hikánō), ἵκω (híkō), ἥκω (hḗkō) (have come), ἕπομαι (hépomai) (+ dative of person)
  • Haitian Creole: vini
  • Hausa: zo (ha)
  • Hebrew: בָּא‎ (he) (ba)
  • Hindi: आना (hi) (ānā)
  • Hungarian: jön (hu)
  • Hunsrik: komme
  • Icelandic: koma (is)
  • Ido: venar (io)
  • Indonesian: datang (id), mendatangi (id), mendatang (id), mendatangkan (id)
  • Interlingua: venir (ia)
  • Irish: tar
    Old Irish: do·icc, do·tét
  • Istriot: vignì
  • Italian: venire (it)
  • Jamaican Creole: come
  • Japanese: 来る (ja) (くる, kuru), いらっしゃる (ja) (irassharu) (honorific), おいでになる (o-ide ni naru) (honorific), 参る (ja) (まいる, mairu) (humble)
  • Javanese: teka (jv)
  • Kabardian: къэкӏуэн (qekʷʼen)
  • Kamta: aṣ
  • Karakhanid: کَلْماكْ‎ (kelmēk)
  • Kashmiri: یُن‎ (yun)
  • Kazakh: келу (kk) (kelu)
  • Khakas: килерге (kilerge)
  • Khmer: មក (km) (mɔɔk)
  • Kikuyu: ũka
  • Korean: 오다 (ko) (oda)
  • Kumyk: гелмек (gelmek)
  • Kurdish:
    Central Kurdish: ھاتن‎ (ckb) (hatin)
    Northern Kurdish: hatin (ku)
  • Kyrgyz: келүү (ky) (kelüü)
  • Lao: ມາ (mā)
  • Latin: venio (la), progredior (la)
  • Latvian: nākt (lv)
  • Lithuanian: ateiti (lt)
  • Lombard: vegnì (lmo)
  • Lushootseed: ʔəƛ̕
  • Lü: ᦙᦱ (maa)
  • Macedonian: доаѓа impf (doaǵa), дојде pf (dojde)
  • Makasae: ma’u
  • Malay: datang (ms), mari (ms)
  • Maltese: ġie
  • Manchu: ᠵᡳᠮᠪᡳ (jimbi)
  • Mansaka: datung
  • Manx: tar
  • Maore Comorian: uja
  • Mauritian Creole: vini
  • Middle English: comen
  • Minangkabau: datang
  • Mongolian: ирэх (mn) (irex)
  • Mòcheno: kemmen
  • Nanai: ди-
  • Neapolitan: venì
  • Nepali: आउनु (ne) (āunu)
  • Norman: v’nîn
  • North Frisian: (Mooring) kaame, (Föhr-Amrum) kem, kum (Sylt)
  • Northern Ohlone: ká̄nak ‘íwqisin
  • Northern Thai: ᨾᩣ (ma)
  • Norwegian:
    Bokmål: komme (no)
    Nynorsk: koma
  • Occitan: venir (oc), vir
  • Old Assamese: আস্ (as), আ (a)
  • Old English: cuman
  • Old Javanese: tĕka
  • Old Saxon: kuman
  • Old Turkic: 𐰚𐰠‎ (kel-)
  • Oriya: ଆସିବା (asiba)
  • Ossetian: ӕрцӕуын (ærcæwyn)
  • Ottoman Turkish: گلمك‎ (gelmek)
  • Papiamentu: bini
  • Pashto: راتلل‎ (ps) (rātlᶕl)
  • Pennsylvania German: kumme
  • Persian: آمدن‎ (fa) (âmadan)
  • Phoenician: 𐤁𐤀‎ (bʾ)
  • Pipil: witz, huitz
  • Polish: (on foot) przychodzić (pl) impf, przyjść (pl) pf; (by vehicle) przyjeżdżać (pl) impf, przyjechać (pl) pf
  • Portuguese: vir (pt)
  • Punic: 𐤁𐤀‎ (bʾ)
  • Quechua: hamuy (qu), hamui, şamui, jamuy
  • Rohingya: ai
  • Romanian: veni (ro)
  • Romansch: vegnir, vagnir, neir, gnir
  • Russian: приходи́ть (ru) impf (prixodítʹ), прийти́ (ru) pf (prijtí); приезжа́ть (ru) impf (prijezžátʹ), прие́хать (ru) pf (prijéxatʹ) (by transport)
  • Sanskrit: गमति (gamati), आगच्छति (āgacchati)
  • Sardinian: bènnere, benni, bènniri, vènnere
  • Scots: cum
  • Scottish Gaelic: thig
  • Serbo-Croatian:
    Cyrillic: доћи pf
    Roman: doći pf
  • Shan: please add this translation if you can
  • Sicilian: vèniri (scn)
  • Sinhalese: එනවා (enawā)
  • Slovak: prichádzať impf, prísť pf
  • Slovene: priti (sl) pf
  • Somali: imasho
  • Sorbian:
    Lower Sorbian: pśiś, se póraś impf
  • Southern Altai: келер (keler)
  • Spanish: venir (es)
  • Sundanese: sumping
  • Swahili: kuja
  • Swedish: komma (sv)
  • Sylheti: ꠀꠃꠣ (aua)
  • Tagalog: pumunta, magpunta
  • Tajik: омадан (tg) (omadan)
  • Tamil: வா (ta) (vā)
  • Tatar: килергә (tt) (kilergä)
  • Telugu: please add this translation if you can
  • Tetum: mai
  • Thai: มา (th) (maa)
  • Tibetan: ཡོང (yong), ཕེབས (phebs) (honorific)
  • Tocharian A: kum-, käm-
  • Tocharian B: käm-
  • Turkish: gelmek (tr)
  • Turkmen: gelmek (tk)
  • Tuvan: келир (kelir)
  • Ukrainian: прихо́дити (uk) impf (pryxódyty), прийти́ (uk) pf (pryjtý); приїжджа́ти impf (pryjiždžáty), приї́хати pf (pryjíxaty), приїзди́ти impf (pryjizdýty) (by transport)
  • Urdu: آنا‎ (ur) (ānā)
  • Uyghur: كەلمەك‎ (kelmek)
  • Uzbek: kelmoq (uz)
  • Venetian: vegner (vec)
  • Vietnamese: lại (vi), đến (vi)
  • Walloon: vni (wa), vini (wa)
  • Welsh: dod (cy)
  • West Frisian: komme (fy)
  • White Hmong: los
  • Yakut: кэл (kel)
  • Yiddish: קומען‎ (kumen)
  • Yoruba: wá, bọ̀
  • Yucatec Maya: tal
  • Yámana: akata
  • Zazaki: amaene, amayen, ameyene (diq)
  • Zealandic: komme
  • Zhuang: daeuj
  • Zulu: -za

to arrive, to appear

  • Arabic: قَدِمَ‎ (ar) (qadima)
    Tunisian Arabic: وصل‎ (wuṣil)
  • Bulgarian: пристигам (bg) (pristigam), явявам се (javjavam se)
  • Chinese:
    Cantonese: 到 (dou3)
    Mandarin: 到 (zh) (dào)
  • Czech: přijít (cs)
  • Danish: ankomme, komme (da)
  • Finnish: saapua (fi), tulla (fi)
  • French: arriver (fr)
  • Galician: vir (gl)
  • German: kommen (de), ankommen (de)
  • Greek:
    Ancient: ἱκάνω (hikánō)
  • Hungarian: megjön (hu), jön (hu)
  • Irish: tar
  • Jamaican Creole: come, reach, touch een
  • Japanese: 着く (ja) (tsuku)
  • Kashmiri: یُن‎ (yun)
  • Korean: 도착하다 (ko) (dochakhada), 이르다 (ko) (ireuda)
  • Macedonian: доаѓа (doaǵa), пристига (pristiga)
  • Middle English: comen, lenden
  • Mòcheno: kemmen
  • Norwegian: ankomme, komme (no)
  • Persian: رسیدن‎ (fa) (rasidan, residan)
  • Portuguese: chegar (pt)
  • Quechua: jamuy
  • Russian: прибыва́ть (ru) impf (pribyvátʹ), прибы́ть (ru) pf (pribýtʹ)
  • Scots: kyth
  • Scottish Gaelic: thig
  • Serbo-Croatian: doći
  • Sorbian:
    Lower Sorbian: pśiś, se póraś impf
  • Turkish: olmak (tr), gelmek (tr)
  • Zulu: -fika

to begin to have an opinion or feeling

  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 起來／起来 (zh) (qǐlai)
  • Hungarian: meg- (hu)
  • Middle English: lenden

to do something by chance, without intending to do it

to orgasm

  • Bulgarian: свъ́ршвам (bg) (svǎ́ršvam)
  • Catalan: escórrer-se (ca)
  • Chinese:
    Mandarin: 射 (zh) (shè), 射精 (zh) (shèjīng), (slang) 出水 (zh) (chūshuǐ)
  • Czech: udělat (cs) se
  • Danish: komme (da), ejakulere
  • Dutch: klaarkomen (nl)
  • Esperanto: ĉuri (eo)
  • Finnish: tulla (fi), saada orgasmi, laueta (fi)
  • French: jouir (fr), venir (fr)
  • German: kommen (de)
  • Greek: χύνω (el) (chýno) (slang)
  • Hebrew: גָּמַר‎ (he) (gamár) (slang), שָׁפַך‎ (he) (shafákh) (slang, «ejaculate»)
  • Hungarian: elélvez (hu), elmegy (hu)
  • Icelandic: fá það
  • Italian: venire (it), venirsene
  • Jamaican Creole: bruk
  • Japanese: いく (ja) (iku), イく (iku)
  • Korean: 가다 (ko) (gada) (slang)
  • Latin: patrō
  • Macedonian: свршува (svršuva)
  • Norwegian: komme (no)
  • Polish: dochodzić (pl) impf, dojść (pl) pf
  • Portuguese: gozar (pt), vir-se
  • Russian: конча́ть (ru) impf (končátʹ), ко́нчить (ru) pf (kónčitʹ), спусти́ть (ru) pf (spustítʹ) (colloquial), эякули́ровать (ru) (ejakulírovatʹ) (medical), изверга́ть (ru) impf (izvergátʹ) (formal)
  • Serbo-Croatian: svršiti (sh) (colloquial)
  • Spanish: correrse (es), venirse (es), acabar (es)
  • Thai: ถึงจุดสุดยอด (těung jùt sùt yôt), เสร็จ (th) (sèt)
  • Zazaki: yen

to become

  • Bulgarian: случвам се (slučvam se), ставам (bg) (stavam)
  • Finnish: tulla (fi)
  • French: devenir (fr)
  • Hungarian: válik (hu)
  • Japanese: 成る (ja) (naru)
  • Macedonian: станува (stanuva)
  • Russian: станови́ться (ru) impf (stanovítʹsja), стать (ru) pf (statʹ)
  • Vietnamese: thành (vi), trở nên (vi), trở thành (vi)
  • Zazaki: bıyen
  • Zulu: -ba

to turn out to be

  • Finnish: tulla (fi)
  • French: s’avérer (fr), se révéler (fr)
  • Hungarian: bizonyul (hu)
  • Japanese: 成る (ja) (naru)
  • Russian: ока́зываться (ru) impf (okázyvatʹsja), оказа́ться (ru) pf (okazátʹsja)
See also[edit]
  • cam’st
  • kingdom come

Noun[edit]

come (uncountable)

  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. (vulgar, slang) Semen

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

  3. (vulgar, slang) Female ejaculatory discharge.
Usage notes[edit]

The meaning of semen or female ejaculatory discharge is considered vulgar slang. Many style guides and editors recommend the spelling come for verb uses while strictly allowing the spelling cum for the noun. Both spellings are sometimes found in either the noun or verb sense, however. Others prefer to distinguish in formality, using come for any formal usage and cum only in slang, erotic or pornographic contexts.[3]

Derived terms[edit]
  • cum

Preposition[edit]

come

  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.

    Come retirement, their Social Security may turn out to be a lot less than they counted on.

    Come summer, we would all head off to the coast.

    • 2012 November 10, Amy Lawrence, “Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer saves late penalty in dramatic draw at Arsenal”, in The Guardian‎[2]:

      Come the final whistle, Mikel Arteta lay flabbergasted on the turf.

    • 2022 October 5, Colon, Beatriz, “Celine Dion ushers in holiday season with exciting music news”, in Hello! Magazine‎[3]:

      She announced in April that come 10 February 2023, her songs would be featured in a romantic comedy titled It’s All Coming Back To Me […]

Usage notes[edit]
  • Came is sometimes used instead when the events occurred in the past.

Interjection[edit]

come

  2. (dated or formal) An exclamation to express annoyance.

    Come come! Stop crying.

    Come now! You must eat it.

  3. (dated or formal) An exclamation to express encouragement, or to precede a request.

    Come come! You can do it.

    Come now! It won’t bite you.

    • “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”.

Etymology 2[edit]

See comma.

Noun[edit]

come (plural comes)

  2. (typography, obsolete) Alternative form of comma in its medieval use as a middot ⟨·⟩ serving as a form of colon.

    • 1824, J. Johnson, Typographia:

      There be five manner of points and divisions most used among cunning men; the which if they be well used, make the sentence very light and easy to be understood, both to the reader and hearer: and they be these, virgil,—come,—parenthesis,—plain point,—interrogative.

    • 1842, F. Francillon, An Essay on Punctuation, page 9:
      Whoever introduced the several points, it seems that a full-point, a point called come, answering to our colon-point, a point called virgil answering to our comma-point, the parenthesis-points and interrogative-point, were used at the close of the fourteenth, or beginning of the fifteenth century.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Chicago Dialect
  2. ^ Glossophilia
  3. ^ Glossophilia

See also[edit]

  • come stà (etymologically unrelated)

Anagrams[edit]

  • ECMO, MECO, meco-

Asturian[edit]

Verb[edit]

come

  1. third-person singular present indicative of comer

Galician[edit]

Verb[edit]

come

  1. inflection of comer:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Vulgar Latin *quōmo (from Latin quōmodo) + et.
Cognate to French comme. See also Spanish como/cómo and Catalan com.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (how) IPA(key): /ˈko.me/, (traditional) /ˈko.me/*
  • (like) IPA(key): /ˈko.me/*
  • Rhymes: -ome
  • Hyphenation: có‧me

Adverb[edit]

come

  1. how
    Come stai? ― How are you? (informal)
    Come sta? ― How are you? (formal)
  2. as, like
    blu come il mare ― as blue as the sea
  3. such as

Derived terms[edit]

  • come mai
  • come no
  • come se

Conjunction[edit]

come

  1. as soon as
    come arrivò… ― as soon as he arrived…

Derived terms[edit]

  • come non detto

Further reading[edit]

  • come in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell’Enciclopedia Italiana
  • come in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams[edit]

  • meco

Japanese[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

  • こめ, コメ, kome

Romanization[edit]

come

  1. Rōmaji transcription of コメ

Latin[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈkoː.me/, [ˈkoːmɛ]
  • (Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /ˈko.me/, [ˈkɔːme]

Adjective[edit]

cōme

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of cōmis

References[edit]

  • “come”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press

Middle English[edit]

Etymology 1[edit]

From Old English cyme, from Proto-Germanic *kumiz.

Noun[edit]

come (plural comes)

  1. arrival, coming
Alternative forms[edit]
  • cume, coom, coome; kime, keome (early)
Descendants[edit]
  • English: come (obsolete)
  • Scots: come

References[edit]

  • “cǒme, cọ̄me, n.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2[edit]

From Old English cuma, from cuman (“to come”).

Noun[edit]

come (plural comes)

  1. guest, stranger

References[edit]

  • “cǒme, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3[edit]

Noun[edit]

come (plural comes)

  1. Alternative form of coumb

Etymology 4[edit]

Noun[edit]

come (plural comes)

  1. Alternative form of comb

Portuguese[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈkõ.mi/
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈko.me/
  • (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈko.m(ɨ)/
  • Hyphenation: co‧me

Verb[edit]

come

  1. inflection of comer:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Spanish[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ˈkome/ [ˈko.me]
  • Rhymes: -ome
  • Syllabification: co‧me

Verb[edit]

come

  1. inflection of comer:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Yola[edit]

Verb[edit]

come

  1. Alternative form of coome

    • 1867, GLOSSARY OF THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY:

      Come adh o’ mee gazb.

      Come out of my breath.

References[edit]

  • Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 41
Источник

We use different languages worldwide to communicate with each other. Every so often we wonder where a word came from. How did a particular word start being used as a common word worldwide and where did it actually originate from. So to find this out we will explore the world of languages and origin of words in this article. This article will cover websites which will let you know the origin of a word.

The study of origin of a word is known as Etymology. You will find that often there are popular tales behind the origin of a word. Most of these tales are just tales and not true, but knowing how the word came into being is equally interesting. So let’s look at these websites to know the origin of words below.

Online Etymology Dictionary

Online etymology dictionary explains you the origin of words and what they meant along with how they would have sounded years back. You would see a date beside each word. This date represents the earliest evidence of this word being used in some sort of written manuscript. Now you can either search for a word you are looking for by typing it in the search box given at the top of the page, otherwise you can browse the words alphabetically. The website has a huge collection of words in it. You can go through the words and find out there origins and meanings as well.

Word Origins by English Oxford Living Dictionaries

Word Origins by English Oxford Living Dictionaries is a good website to know about a words origin. You can check out origin of a word or a phrase. You can search for the word or a phrase you are looking for or can even browse the page to know origin of different words. The website apart from this has a dictionary, thesaurus, grammar helper, etc. As this app has a dictionary, it proves to be a good source for knowing the origin of a word. You can see trending words when you scroll down the page. You can also subscribe to the newsletter on this website to receive updates regarding new words, phrases, etc.

Wordorigins.org

The website Wordorigins.org will let you know the origin of words and phrases. The website has a big list of words which you can go through, or even search for a particular word that you are looking for. The website also has a blog and discussion forum where people can discuss there views. You can login and become a member of the website so you receive regular updates from the website. You can either start browsing words by going to the big list words tab, or by searching for a word. The big list of words is in alphabetical order and there are about 400 words in here. Each word has a interesting story or folklore related to it.

Words of the World

Words of the World is a website which lets you watch videos to let you know the origin of a word. The website explains which language a word originated from through a video. The home page of the website will have a list of words for which you can see a video explaining how the word originated. The words on the home page are given in the format as shown in the screenshot above, but they can also be turned into a neat list if you like. The website is supported by the University of Nottingham and thus is a trusted source.

Learning Nerd

Learning Nerd is another website which has a section on English etymology resources. The website lists references to origin of words like there are word origin dictionaries listed, words with Greek and Latin roots are under a different category, words originating from around the world can be found under international words, and then there is a section for miscellaneous words. You can also play etymology quizzes and listen to etymology podcasts as well. The website itself doesn’t have much information about word origins but will redirect you to another website for your word needs.

Learn That Word

Learn That Word is another website which lists root words and prefixes. The website is pretty basic and a list of words can be seen right on the first page. The words are listed alphabetically, so you can even jump to a word that you are looking for easily. The website will list the root word, its meaning, its place of origin, and then definition and examples. This can be seen in the screenshot above.

These are the websites I found which let you know the origin of a word. Go through them and let me know which one you liked most. If you think there is a website which could be included in this article then leave a comment below.

Источник

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Last updated:

January 30, 2022

Do You Know the Origins of English? 16 English Words with Cool Life Stories

What if we told you that there’s a way to learn multiple English words at the same time?

All you have to do is learn one little English word and—poof!—you now know two, three or ten new words. Wow!

No, it’s not magic. All you have to do is learn a word’s origin along with its definition.

The origin of a word is the language it originally came from. English has many words that originally came from other languages. Some have been changed over years, others have stayed pretty much the same. When you learn a word, you should learn where it came from too!

But how will this help you double or triple your English vocabulary learning?

Often, when a foreign word is adopted by English, it takes on many new forms in the English language. This one new English word is put together with other English words, and these combinations create many more new words. However, these combinations are all related to the original word! If you know the original word, you’ll understand all of the combinations.

The more origins and original meanings you learn, the more you’ll see these words used and reused in English.

Through just one additional step to the vocabulary learning process—learning word origins—you can improve your understanding of English as a whole. Now that’s magical.


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English Is Always Growing

Last December, the Oxford English Dictionary added 500 new words and phrases to the dictionary. Not 500 words for the year—the English language gained 500 officially recognized words and phrases in just three months!

English is a living language. That means it’s always growing and changing. Many things influence the English language and its growth, but no matter how new or old a word is, you can probably trace it back to an original word or the moment when it was accepted into the language.

Whether the word is fleek (meaning “nice,” from 2003) or fleet (meaning a group of military ships, from the year 1200), most English words came from somewhere else.

Some words are borrowed from other languages and turn into English words with few or no changes, like the Italian words for pizza and zucchini. Other words are changed a lot more and become barely recognizable, like the Latin word pax which turned into peace in English.

No matter how different a word is from its origin, though, knowing where it came from can help you become a better English learner.

How Learning Word Origins Can Improve Your English

When you learn a new word, do you remember to learn its different forms and tenses as well? After all, knowing the word “to see” isn’t enough when you want to talk about something you saw last week. You’ll need to say “to see” in different forms and tenses, such as “I see,” “I saw,” “I’m going to see” and “you’ve seen.” You can apply the same idea to word origins.

When you learn the origin of a word, you might see it again in another word. When that happens, you might be able to get a basic understanding of the new word.

For example, look at these words:

Transport

Transgress

Transaction

Notice anything similar about them? They all have the word trans in them, which comes from the Latin word meaning “across.” Now even if you don’t know the full meaning of the words you can figure out that they deal with something going across.

Now look at the original meanings of the other parts of the words:

Port — To carry

So, it makes sense that to transport something means that you carry something across a space. For example, a bus might transport people from one city to another. A plane might transport people from one country to another.

Gress — To go

To transgress means that you cross a boundary, rule or law.

Action — To do

A transaction usually involves an exchange or trade of some kind. For example, when you give money to a cashier to buy a new shirt, this is a transaction.

You can probably figure out what the words mean from this information. See how much we knew before you even thought about opening a dictionary? It’s all thanks to knowing word origins!

Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes

English words are often made from root words, with prefixes and suffixes joined to them.

A prefix is added to the beginning of a word. The bi in bicycle is a prefix that means “two” (as in two wheels).

A suffix is added to the end of a word. The less in endless is a suffix that means “without” (which is why endless means “without an end”).

Once you remove all the prefixes and suffixes on a word, you’re left with its root, which is the part of the word that gives its main meaning. The words cycle and end in the above words are roots.

Different prefixes and suffixes are added to a root to change its meaning and create new words. For example, the root word hand can become unhand (to let go), handout (something you give for free) or even handsome (good looking).

All three words have different meanings, but they’re all related in one way or another to hand. The first two words seem related to hand, but how is handsome related to hand? A long time ago, the word used to mean “easy to handle” and then later became a term you use to show appreciation for someone.

Understanding roots and word origins like this will make it easier to understand new words, and even why they mean what they mean. The next time you see a word that has hand in it, you’ll be one step closer to understanding it before you even look it up.

Below are just 16 words. From these 16 words, you’ll learn the meanings of more than 30 other words! Once you know each word’s origin, you’ll begin to notice it in other words.

A majority of English word roots come from Latin and Greek. Even English words that come from other languages like French or German are sometimes originally Latin anyway—so they were Latin first, then became French or German and then they became English.

Many words on this list have gone through a few languages before getting to English, but in this post we’ll focus on just one main origin.

The “related words” sections give a sample of the other words you can learn using these origins, but there are many, many more out there. Most related words are broken down into their own origins, which are defined and then pointed out in parentheses (like these).

For example, if you see the words “together (sym),” you’ll know that the root sym means together. Simple!

And now, the words!

Greek

1. Phone

Meaning: A phone is a device that’s used to communicate with people from a distance (you might be using a phone to read this!).

Origin: The English word phone is actually short for telephone, which comes from the Greek words for sound (phon) and far away (tele).

Related words: Homophones are words that sound (phon) the same (homo) but are spelled differently, like hear and here. If you like hearing nice things you might enjoy a symphony, which is when many instruments play together (sym) to make a beautiful sound (phon)… usually.

2. Hyper

Meaning: Someone who is hyper is very energetic and lively.

Origin: Hyper actually a shortening of the word hyperactive, which combines the Greek word meaning “over, beyond” (hyper) and the Latin word for something that’s done (act).

Related words: When someone tells you they’re so hungry they could eat a horse, you know they’re just exaggerating by using a hyperbole—stretching the truth, like throwing (bole) something too far (hyper). No matter how exciting someone’s hyperbole is, try not to hyperventilate! That means to breathe or blow out air (ventilate) too much (hyper) in a way that makes you dizzy.

3. Sync

Meaning: When a few things happen at the same time or in the same way, they’re in sync. This word is a shortening of the word synchronize, but it’s used alone nowadays as a verb (your phone apps might even sync to make sure your files are up to date).

Origin: Sync comes from a Greek word that means to be together (sym or syn).

Related words: A synopsis is a summary of something like a movie or a play. It’s a way for everyone to see (opsis) the meaning together (syn). Synopsis and summary are actually synonyms, which are words that share the same (syn) meaning but have a different sound or name (onym).

Stay away from a play if the synopsis says the actors lip-sync. That means they move their lips (lip) together (syn) with the music without actually creating the sounds themselves.

4. Air

Meaning: Air is all around us. It’s the invisible gas that creates our atmosphere. Without air, we wouldn’t be able to breathe!

Origin: The word air has gone through a few languages before ending up in English, but it probably comes from the Greek word aer, which means to blow or breathe. You can actually find words that use both aer and air.

Related words: An airplane is a relatively flat object (plane) that flies in the air (air). Airplanes are aerodynamic, which means they use the air (aer) to power (dynamic) their flight. Don’t forget to look down when you’re in that plane, since aerial (of the air) views are pretty amazing!

Latin

5. Dense

Meaning: Something dense is packed tightly or very thick. For example, a fog can be so dense, or thick, that you can’t see much through it.

Origin: Dense comes from the Latin for “thick” (densus).

Related words: You can see condensation when evaporated water molecules join together (con) and becomes thick (dens) enough to form droplets. Density is the measure of how thickly packed (dens) something is, like people or things in one space.

6. Finish

Meaning: To finish something means to be done with it. In a few seconds you’ll be finished reading this sentence.

Origin: Finish comes from the Latin word finis which means “end.” In many words, this is shortened to fin.

Related words: You’ve probably defined a lot of vocabulary words in your English learning, which means you’ve looked up what the words mean. You could say that you’ve brought an end (both de and fin), to your lack of understanding! Don’t worry, there’s a finite number of words in English, which is a noun (ite) that means something that has a limit or end (fin). If English were infinite, or without (in) a limit, we would be learning it forever!

7. Form

Meaning: The form of something is its shape. As a verb, the word to form means to create something in a specific shape.

Origin: The word form comes from the Latin words for a mold (forma) and the Latin verb to form or to create (formare).

Related words: Many jobs and schools require people to wear a uniform, which is clothing that all looks the same or has one (uni) style (form). When places don’t have strict rules about what clothes to wear, they’re informal, or without (in) a specific shape (form).

8. Letter

Meaning: A letter is a symbol that represents a sound in a language, like a, b, c, or the rest of the alphabet. A letter is also a message you write and send to someone. Emails are digital letters!

Origin: In Latin, a letter was called a littera, and the lit and liter parts of this word appear in many English words that are related to letters.

Related words: If you’re reading this, you’re literate—you know how to read (liter). You probably read literature (books) and hopefully don’t take fiction too literally (seriously and exactly). All these words are forms of the stem liter, but their suffixes turn them into someone who reads (literate), something that exists (literature), and someone who does things to the letter (literally).

9. Part

Meaning: A part is a piece of a whole, something that isn’t complete. In verb form, the word to part means to divide or remove something.

Origin: This word comes from the Latin partire or partiri, which means to divide or share among others.

Related words: Somebody impartial has no (im) opinion about something (they take no part in the debate). You can be impartial about whether you live in a house or an apartment. An apartment is the result (ment) of dividing a building into smaller spaces (part). Wherever you live, make sure it’s safe—you wouldn’t want to put your family in jeopardy, which is a dangerous situation or, according to the original definition, an evenly divided (part) game (jeo).

10. Voice

Meaning: Your voice is the sound you use to speak. You can also voice, or state, an opinion.

Origin: The Latin word for voice is vox, and the word for “to call” is vocare. These two related words are the origin of a number of English words related to speech or voices. They usually include the root voc or vok.

Related words: An advocate is someone who calls (voc) others to help him (ate) support a cause or a person. Even someone who means well might end up provoking someone who doesn’t agree with them. To provoke someone means to call someone (vok) forward (pro) and challenge them in a way that usually makes them angry.

Old Norse

11. Loft

Meaning: A loft is a room right under the roof or very high up in a building. The loft in a house is usually used for storage, but building lofts are rented out as (usually smaller) living spaces.

Origin: The Old Norse word for air or sky was lopt, which is written as loft in English.

Related words: Something aloft is up in (a) the air (loft). If something is very tall, you would say it’s lofty, which is the adjective form of loft. In the same way, someone lofty has a very high (loft) opinion of themselves, which makes them act proud or snobbish.

French

12. Question

Meaning: Asking a question means trying to get information about something. Questions end in question marks (?).

Origin: Originally from Latin, English borrowed the Old French word question and never gave it back. The word means “to ask” or “to seek,” and it shows up in a number of ways in other words, from quire to quest. This one can be tough to spot since it switches between using the French and Latin versions of the word.

Related words: Some fantasy books have the main characters going on a quest, or a long and difficult search (quest) for something. Maybe you’re more interested in murder mystery books, which often have an inquest, or an official investigation (quest) into (in) someone’s suspicious death. If these types of books sound interesting, you can inquire, or ask (quest) about (in) them at your local library.

13. Peace

Meaning: Peace is a calm state of being. It means no wars or troubles. Peace is a wonderful thing!

Origin: The Latin pax and Old French pais both mean peace, and English words use both as prefixes and suffixes. Look for words with pac or peas in them (just not the kind of peas you eat. That’s a whole other word).

Related words: To pacify means to make (ify) someone calmer (pac). To calm someone, you can try to appease them, which means to (a) bring them peace (peas) by giving them what they want.

14. Liberty

Meaning: Liberty is the state of being free. The Statue of Liberty in New York is a symbol of freedom.

Origin: Another originally Latin word, liberty found its way into English through the Old French liberete, usually shortened to lib.

Related words: A liberator is a person (ator) who sets others free (lib) from a situation like slavery, jail or a bad leader. Becoming free means being open to changes, so it helps if you’re liberal—someone with a personality (al) that’s open to (lib) new ideas or ways of thinking.

Italian

15. Gusto

Meaning: Doing something with gusto means really enjoying it and being enthusiastic about it.

Origin: The Italian word gusto actually means taste, and comes from the Latin for taste, gustus.

Related words: You won’t do something with gusto if you find it disgusting. That’s the negative feeling you get about something you think is unpleasant—literally, without (dis) taste (gust).

Arabic

16. Check

Meaning: To check means to take a close look at something, or to make sure of something (verify it). For example, before you leave for work in the morning you might check that you have everything you need. Check can also be used as a verb that means to stop or slow something down.

Origin: The word check has an interesting history, moving from language to language and changing its meaning a little with each one. The word is originally from Persian and then Arabic, where it meant “king.” Over time, the word started being used in the game of chess and was defined as “to control.” Eventually the word’s meaning changed to what it is today. So much history in such a small word!

Related words: Leaving something unchecked means leaving something without (un) limits or control (check). If you leave weeds to grow unchecked in your yard, for example, they’ll take over and destroy your other plants. The word check on its own also refers to a piece of paper worth a certain amount of money (you write checks to pay bills). A raincheck used to be a ticket given to people attending outdoor events that had to be stopped because of rain. Today a raincheck is just a promise to do something another time.

The more roots and word origins you know, the easier it will become to learn new words.

Don’t stop learning here! Can you find words that use the related roots, too?

There are always new words to discover, and now you know exactly what to look for!


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