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Glite Dictionary
to come from

to come from

∞ 1.0
Have origins in a place, family or social group
  • phrasal verb
  • /kʌm frʌm/
translation icon : venir de
  • Most of what we know about the Persian Empire, however, comes from its western half.
  • come from a family
  • come from a similar background
  • come from different backgrounds

I've no idea where that came from, right?

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Examples

  • One of my favorite studies in this domain came from southeastern Brazil.

    Andrew Huberman

  • Instead, Alexander's greatest Light Infantry came from outside his home region.

  • These are all coming from the body or the self.

  • So where are you coming from?

    Babes (2024)

  • When 40% or more of students come from poor families, a school is identified as Title I.

    Academic text (2011)

  • A different kind of concern, although probably less common, comes from the opposite direction.

    Academic text (2011)

  • I love leaders who come from a service mindset.

  • So many of these poems come from the Bush years.

  • Some of the biggest challenges of child protection come from our own internal reluctance to act.

    Academic text (2011)

  • I come from a small town in Montana where everyone knows each other.

Synonyms

to come
vsto come from
∞ 1.0

Start from a particular place or source

focuses on origin as background or social and family connection
to derive
vsto come from
53 4.0

Come from an earlier family, group, or language

includes family, social, or geographical background beyond just ancestry
to descend
vsto come from
47 4.0

Come from a particular family or ancestor

includes connections beyond blood family, like social or geographic ties
to originate in
vsto come from
34 3.5

Come from a place, time, or situation

also covers family and social background as well as place

How Direct

to originate
153 3.8
to come from
∞ 1.0
to derive
53 4.0

Surface Forms

come from infinitive
come from past participle
coming from present participle
comes from third person singular
came from past

Morphology

come + from

The meaning 'to have as an origin or source' is directly and literally built from 'come' (have origin) plus 'from' (marks origin), so the compositional meaning is immediately derivable. This origin-marking construction is cross-linguistically common and follows a standard English verb + preposition pattern, making it readily understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.

Etymology

The phrasal verb come from paints a simple picture: something comes from a place or family, like a river that begins at its spring. So it means 'to have as a source or origin'.