come of age

C

come of age (idiom)
/kʌm əv eɪdʒ/

Meanings

• To become mature, responsible, or fully developed.
• To gain recognition, importance, or success after growth.
• To reach adulthood or legal maturity.
• To reach the age at which one is considered an adult (literal).

Synonyms: mature; grow up; come into one’s own; develop; blossom; emerge; ripen; reach adulthood.

Example Sentences

1. He slowly came of age after facing real-life challenges and learning from his mistakes.
2. The startup truly came of age when it secured major funding and entered the global market.
3. She came of age at eighteen and began making her own independent decisions.
4. In many countries, people come of age at eighteen and gain full legal rights (literal).

Etymology and Origin

The idiom “come of age” grew directly from English legal traditions that defined when a young person gained full adult rights. In earlier centuries, English common law set the age of majority at twenty-one for most matters like inheritance and contracts. Until then, a minor’s property often stayed under a guardian’s control. Once someone reached that milestone, they “came of age” and could manage their own affairs without interference. This practical legal idea shaped everyday language around growing up and taking responsibility.

First Printed Record

The earliest known printed example of the expression appears in 1662. John Graunt, an English statistician, used a close form of it in his book Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality. He noted that some families avoided registering births because doing so would reveal “the time of their coming of Age” for inheritance purposes. The full context shows people dodging official records to keep details of when heirs would legally mature hidden from authorities. This London publication marks the phrase’s clear debut in written English.

Country of Origin

The phrase first took shape in England. Its roots sit firmly in the country’s medieval and early modern legal system, where precise rules governed when young people stepped into adulthood. No solid evidence points to any other nation as the starting place. As English spread across the world through trade, law, and literature, the idiom traveled with it and kept its original sense of reaching legal maturity.

Later Development and Use

Over time the expression moved beyond strict legal talk. Writers began applying it to people reaching emotional or social maturity, not just the age written in law books. By the twentieth century it also described movements, industries, or ideas that had grown mature and ready for wider acceptance. Today we still say a person or a cause has “come of age” when it steps into its full strength. The simple image of crossing a threshold from youth to responsibility has stayed remarkably clear across the centuries.

Variants

• come of age at (a certain age)
• coming-of-age
• coming of age

Success, Time

Last update: May 5, 2026 1:01 AM