Etymograph

English

ycomen

Ycomen comes from Old English cuman ‘to come’, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷémt ‘to step’, and ultimately from *gʷem-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-1‘to come, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷémt1‘to step’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwemaną1‘to come’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kweman1‘to come’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cuman2‘to come’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġecumen2past participle of cuman
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ycomen2
  8. Englishtodayycomen2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English cuman
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English ycomen

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-Wiktionary, Old English cuman‘to come, to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷémtWiktionary, Old English cuman‘to step’reconstructedderived within Proto-Indo-European
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwemanąWiktionary, Old English cuman‘to come’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*kwemanWiktionary, Old English cuman‘to come’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150cumanWiktionary, English ycomen‘to come’
  6. Old Englishc. 450–1150ġecumenWiktionary, English ycomenpast participle of cuman
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500ycomenWiktionary, English ycomen
  8. EnglishtodayycomenWiktionary, English ycomen

Formed from y- + comen

Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm ‘beside, near, by, with’

Proto-Germanic *ga- ‘Indicates association or togetherness’

Proto-West Germanic *ga- ‘used as an intensifier for verbs, indicating…’

English y-

Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’

…

Proto-West Germanic *kweman ‘to come’

Old English cuman ‘to come’

Old English cumen

Middle English comen

English comen

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come, to step’

base, event, basic, basis, revenue, bass, adventure, avenue, diabetes, convention, venue, inventory, convenience, intervene, advent, inventor, invent, souvenir, pug, provenance, convene, contravention, revenant, circumvention, quim, contravene, 52 more

through Proto-Germanic *kwemaną ‘to come’

coming, become, cometh, 1 more

through Old English cuman ‘to come’

come, cum, 1 more

Today it means

verb —

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “ycomen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English cuman. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- / ycomen

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