Forthcome

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A coming forth. obsolete
Verb
  1. 1
    To come forth. intransitive

    "By dropping a penny in the slot, the gas was forthcoming, and when a penny's worth had forthcome the supply was automatically shut off."

Example

More examples

"By dropping a penny in the slot, the gas was forthcoming, and when a penny's worth had forthcome the supply was automatically shut off."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English forthcomen, from Old English forþcuman (“to come forth, proceed, arrive at, succeed, come to pass, come true, be born”), from Proto-Germanic *furþą (“forth”), *kwemaną (“to come”), equivalent to forth- + come.

Etymology 2

From Middle English [Term?], from Old English forþcyme (“a forthcoming”), from Proto-Germanic *furþą (“forth”), *kumiz (“coming”), equivalent to forth- + come. Cognate with German Fortkommen (“advancement”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.