Forthcame

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Archaic past tense meaning emerged from a hiding place or came out into view
2. Past tense of an old verb meaning to step out or appear before others
3. Once used to describe something that issued out or became visible to onlookers

Etymology: Forthcame is the simple past of "forthcome", which comes from Old English "forþcuman", meaning "to come forth, proceed, arrive at, succeed, come to pass, come true, be born." The word is a compound of "forth", meaning "out" or "onward", and "come", so its core sense is simply moving out into view. The breadth of the Old English meanings shows how far the idea reached: a thing that came forth could be a visible appearance, a successful outcome, or even a birth. Over time, English narrowed the sense toward appearing, emerging, or being revealed, which is the meaning of the past tense here: something came into sight. The same root gave Middle English "forthcomen", and the verb's modern sense of becoming available or appearing on the scene keeps that original picture of coming out from hiding.