how come

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how come

/haʊ kʌm/

Where it comes from

Earliest use in its modern form can also be found in The Trial of Titus Oates, referring to a trial that took place in 1685:

1730, F. Hargrave, A Complete Collection of State-Trials and Proceedings for High-Treason, and Other Crimes and Misdemeanours; from the Reign of King Richard II. to the End of the Reign of King George I, volume 4:

Mrs. A. Ireland It was on Saturday Morning, as I remember, the 3rd of August, the Saturday after St. Ignatius's Day.

L. C. J. How come you remember so particularly, that it was then?

In this text, it also co-occurs with forms such as "How come she to lie there?" and "How come you to remember those Days of the Month?".

Compare West Frisian hoe kom (“how come”), Dutch hoe komt het (“how comes it; why”), Afrikaans hoekom (“how come; why”).

According to Partridge's slang dictionary: US English, 1848, probably from older forms such as "How comes it that... ?" or "How does it come that... ?" and "How did it come to be like this?"

adverb

idiomatic, informal Why; why is it; for what reason or purpose; due to what cause? How come you didn’t leave when you had the chance?
Similar: why come, how's come

Translations

Every language

adv why

Español	¿cómo es que, ¿cómo así que, ¿cómo así? ¿y eso?
한국어	왜 wae
日本語	何で nande
中文	為什麼 /为什么 wèishénme, 怎麼 /怎么 zěnme
Português	por quê, como
Français	comment se fait-il que, comment se fait-ce que, comment ça se fait que, pourquoi
Deutsch	wie kommt es dass, warum, wieso
Italiano	come mai
Ελληνικά	πώς κι έτσι pós ki étsi
Română	cum se face, cum de
Русский	почему́ же počemú že, почему́ počemú, почему́ э́то počemú éto, как так kak tak, как это так kak eto tak
Tiếng Việt	tại sao, tai sao
עברית	מַדּוּעַ madúa'

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MLA

"how come." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/how%20come. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

how come. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/how%20come

Chicago

"how come." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/how%20come.

BibTeX

@misc{how_come_2026,
  title = {how come},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/how%20come},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}