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oncome

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oncome¹

Where it comes from

From Middle English oncomen, from Old English oncuman, ancuman (“to arrive, come upon, happen”), from Proto-Germanic *anakwemaną (“to come to, come at, arrive”), equivalent to on- + come. Cognate with Dutch aankomen (“to arrive”), German ankommen (“to arrive”), Swedish ankomma (“to arrive”).

verb oncomes · oncoming · oncame · oncome

  1. intransitive, rare To arrive; come to; come on. This said, and shaking his long dark spear, then forward he hurl'd it Into the fullround buckler of Priamides Alexander; Right thro' his glittering shield oncame the redoubtable warspear, On still advanced, throughpiercing his breastplate's various-art-work [...]

oncome²

Where it comes from

From Middle English oncome (“an attack”), equivalent to on- + come. Compare Old English ancuman (“to arrive, come upon, happen”). More at ancome, income.

noun oncomes

  1. Advent, arrival, approach; onset. I see the dawn or rather I feel the oncome of it.
  2. The commencement or initial stages of a business, especially of one which requires great exertion.
  3. The setting about of an action; development; progress.
  4. An attack; an attack or onset of a disease, fit, or episode. On inquiry it was found that this neurosis corresponded in time with the oncome of the catamenia.
  5. dialectal A mysterious disease or ailment. This woman had acquired a considerable reputation among the ignorant by the pretended cures which she performed, especially in oncomes, as the Scotch call them, or mysterious diseases, which baffle the regular physician.
  6. dialectal A heavy fall of rain or snow; cloudburst.
  7. of a chimney The lower edge of a fire-clay lining piece.

Similar: outburst, outgush, advent, arrival

Thesaurus

noun

Similar: outburst, outgush, advent, arrival

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MLA

"oncome." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/oncome. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

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

Chicago

"oncome." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/oncome.

BibTeX
@misc{oncome_2026,
  title = {oncome},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/oncome},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}