English

Verb

come into one's own

1. (idiomatic) To reach a stage of development or maturity where one has achieved strength and confidence, economic security, or respect and social acceptance.
   • 1903, Jack London, Call of the Wild, ch. 2:

     And not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead became alive again. The domesticated generations fell from him. . . . [T[he old tricks . . . came to him without effort or discovery, as though they had been his always. . . . [T]he ancient song surged through him and he came into his own again.

   • 1913, Gene Stratton-Porter, Laddie: A True Blue Story, ch. 7:

     Sally just swept along smiling at every one. . . . Sally looked just as if she had come into her own and was made for it; I never did see her look so pretty.

   • 1916, D. H. Lawrence, Twilight in Italy, ch. 5:

     The eyes of the wood-cutter flash like actual possession. He seems now to have come into his own. With all his senses, he is dominant, sure.

   • 1919, Upton Sinclair, Jimmie Higgins, ch. 12:

     Everywhere the people would come into their own, and war and tyranny would vanish like a hateful nightmare! Speaker after speaker got up to proclaim this glorious future.

   • 2010 Nov. 26, Gemlyn Geroge, "Healthcare in Asia: A Roadmap for the Next Decade," Time:

     The subsequent decade played host to numerous stories of Asian nations coming into their own with robustly growing economies.

Translations