come of age
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Mature.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
When he died in 1711 the title became extinct but his estates passed to his nephew Thomas ~ Pelham, who three years later upon coming of age received the title in its third creation.
In any case, he knew that when he came of age he would be able to obey God's commandment to be baptised.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “come of age” mean?
Mature.
Is “come of age” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.