come about
Britishverb
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to take place; happen
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nautical to change tacks
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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).
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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]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
What 250 years means: I think that with every year that passes, it’s important to do things differently, so that you can see how change can come about.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
Much of the Fed behavior Mr. Warsh wants to change has come about largely by accident, without extensive consideration beforehand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
When did the idea for creating a new album come about?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 11, 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
How did that prehistoric 4,000-mile expedition come about?
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
