come about

British  

verb

1. to take place; happen

2. nautical to change tacks

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come about Idioms  

1. Also, come to pass . Happen, take place, as in How did this quarrel come about? or When did this new development come to pass? Shakespeare used the first term, first recorded in 1315, in Hamlet (5:2): “How these things came about.” The variant, dating from the late 1400s, appears often in the Bible, as in, “And it came to pass ... that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus” (Luke 2:1).

2. Also, go about . In sailing, to change tack (direction), as in It's important to duck under the boom when we come about . [Mid-1500s]

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Example Sentences

“The abolition of slavery did not come about only because of resistance on the part of the oppressed,” he finds.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026

"It just doesn't get mentioned, and I think that the actual silence is actually evidence in itself that people knew that, how those injuries had come about."

From BBC • May 11, 2026

Ironically, arbitration has come about ostensibly through willing agreement.

From Slate • Apr. 27, 2026

The next leg lower could come about when the markets get a sense of just how many tankers are passing through the strait, he told MarketWatch.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 17, 2026

There had never been any more “security” in this building than a lock on the door and an elderly porter, and she knew why the change had come about.

From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman