Meanings
plural homecomings
- The act or event of returning home.
His homecoming was saddened by the news of his mother's death the day before.
- CanadaUSalsoattributiveIn high schools and colleges, a tradition centered around a football game, a parade and the coronation of a Homecoming Queen.
homecoming ball
4 more examples
Many alumni come back for homecoming, and many freshmen are advised to flee.
homecoming game
homecoming party
homecoming rave
Synonyms: hoco
- CanadaUSabbreviationalsoattributiveellipsisEllipsis of harvest homecoming, a traditional (street) party and/or dance near the start of the school year, at around fall mid-terms. It traditionally marks the start of harvest break, where students go home in autumn to harvest the crops on the family farms.
Synonyms: hoco
Synonyms & antonyms
nounIn high schools and colleges, a tradition centered around a football game, a parade and the coronation of a Homecoming Queen.
nounEllipsis of harvest homecoming, a traditional (street) party and/or dance near the start of the school year, at around fall mid-terms. It traditionally marks the start of harvest break, where students go home in autumn to harvest the crops on the family farms.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishhāmcyme“homecoming; return”
- Middle Englishhom-come
- Middle Englishhom-comyng
- Englishhomecoming
From Middle English hom-comyng, home komyng, home-cumyng, home-commynge, equivalent to home + coming. Probably an alteration of earlier Middle English hom-come, homkome, hame-come, ham-cume, from Old English hāmcyme (“homecoming; return”).
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek νόστος
- νόστος (nóstos)the act of returning home
Bulgarian завръщане
- завръщане (zavrăštane)the act of returning home
Chinese Mandarin 回鄉 /回乡, 歸國 /归国
- 回鄉 /回乡 (huíxiāng)the act of returning home
- 歸國 /归国 (guīguó)the act of returning home
Czech návrat domů
- návrat domůthe act of returning home
Dutch thuiskomst
- thuiskomstthe act of returning home
Esperanto reveno
- revenothe act of returning home
Estonian koolipidustused
- koolipidustusedthe act of returning home
Finnish kotiinpaluu
- kotiinpaluuthe act of returning home
French retour
- retourthe act of returning home
German Heimkehr, Heimkunft
- Heimkehrthe act of returning home
- Heimkunftthe act of returning home
Greek νόστος
- νόστος (nóstos)the act of returning home
Hindi घर वापसी
- घर वापसी (ghar vāpsī)the act of returning home
Hungarian hazatérés
- hazatérésthe act of returning home
Japanese 帰省, 帰宅
- 帰省 (kisei)the act of returning home
- 帰宅 (kitaku)the act of returning home
- 帰国 (kikoku)the act of returning home
Korean 귀가, 귀국
- 귀가 (gwiga)the act of returning home
- 귀국 (gwiguk)the act of returning home
Malay balik kampung
- balik kampungthe act of returning home
Norwegian Bokmål hjemkomst
- hjemkomstthe act of returning home
Russian возвраще́ние домо́й, возвраще́ние на ро́дину
- возвраще́ние домо́й (vozvraščénije domój)the act of returning home
- возвраще́ние на ро́дину (vozvraščénije na ródinu)the act of returning home
Spanish regreso a casa
- regreso a casathe act of returning home
Swedish hemkomst, återkomst
- hemkomstthe act of returning home
- återkomstthe act of returning home
- hemvändardagtradition in colleges and highschools
Cite this entry
homecoming. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homecoming
“homecoming.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homecoming. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “homecoming,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/homecoming.
Source: homecoming on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.