Forthcome

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Archaic term meaning to step out into view or make an appearance from a hidden or enclosed place
2. To emerge or become visible, especially after having been concealed or kept out of sight for a time
3. Used of something that comes out into the open, appearing or being brought forward for others to see

Etymology: "Forthcome" is a compound built from "forth" and "come", and its Old English ancestor, "forþcuman", meant "to come forth, proceed, arrive at, succeed, come to pass, come true, be born" according to the record. That spread of senses is the notable thing: the verb once covered everything from a child's birth to a prophecy being fulfilled, and the sense of simply appearing into view is only one slice of it. Its sense of succeeding or coming about is the older, broader idea that the modern "emerge" sense narrowed from. The word passed into Middle English as "forthcomen", keeping the same pieces it had in Old English. Its close relative, "forthcoming", developed from a separate Old English noun, "forþcyme", meaning "a forthcoming", and that noun shows the same building blocks: "forth" joined to "come", with the Proto-Germanic root "*kumiz" behind it. German has a cognate, "Fortkommen", meaning advancement, which suggests the old idea of getting on in the world was shared across the Germanic languages.

Synonyms: emerge, appear

Antonyms: withdraw