come
To move towards; to arrive at a place.
Etymology
From Old English cuman, from Proto-Germanic *kwemaną, from PIE *gʷem- "to come, to go, to step." The labio-velar *gʷ- became kw- and later c- in Germanic. This root gives us "become," "welcome" (from *wil- + *kwemaną "a desired arrival"), and through Latin venīre (from the same root): "advent," "adventure," "avenue," "convene," "event," "invent," "prevent," "revenue," and "venture."
The Journey: *gʷem- → come
*gʷem-
*kwemaną
cuman
comen
come
Cognates Across Languages
These words in other languages descend from the same PIE root *gʷem-. They are not borrowings but independent inheritances from a common ancestor.
| Language | Word |
|---|---|
| Greek | baínō |
| Latin | venīre |
| Armenian | ekn |
| Sanskrit | gámati |
| Lithuanian | gemù |
| Old Church Slavonic | žęti |
Did You Know?
The words "come" and "venture" are secretly the same word. Latin venīre (from PIE *gʷem-) gives us advent, adventure, avenue, convene, event, invent, prevent, revenue, and venture. All of them descend from the PIE concept of "coming."
This word descends from the Proto-Indo-European root *gʷem-. See the full root page for descendant trees, sound law references, and scholarly discussion.