become
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /bɪˈkʌm/
ipa: /bəˈkʌm/
ipa: /bɪˈkʊm/
ipa: /bəˈkʊm/
ipa: /bɪˈkʌm/
ipa: /biˈkʌm/
ipa: /bəˈkʌm/
rhymes: -ʌm
Forms: form: becomes
form: becoming
form: became
form: become
form: become
form: became
form: becomen
form: no-table-tags
form: glossary
form: become
form: become
form: became
form: become
form: becomed
form: become
form: becomest
form: became
form: become
form: becamest
form: becamedst
form: becomed
form: becomes
form: becometh
form: became
form: become
form: becomed
form: become
form: became
form: become
form: becomed
form: become
form: became
form: become
form: becomed
form: become
form: -
form: becoming
form: become
form: became
form: becomen
form: becomed
Etymology: A compound of the sources of be- + come.
From Middle English becomen, bicumen, from Old English becuman (“to come (to), approach, arrive, enter, meet with, fall in with; happen, befall; befit”), from Proto-Germanic *bikwemaną (“to come around, come about, come across, come by”), equivalent to be- (“about, around”) + come. Cognate with Scots becum (“to come, arrive, reach a destination”), North Frisian bekommen, bykommen (“to come by, obtain, receive”), West Frisian bikomme (“to come by, obtain, receive”), Dutch bekomen (“to come by, obtain, receive”), German bekommen (“to get, receive, obtain”), Swedish bekomma (“to receive, concern”), Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌵𐌹𐌼𐌰𐌽 (biqiman, “to come upon one, befall”). Sense of "befit, suit" due to influence from Middle English cweme, icweme, see queem. Displaced Old English weorþan.
Senses: examples: text: She became a doctor when she was 25.
text: The weather will become cold after the sun goes down.
text: The sense ‘state or process of bearing fruit’ has become imposed on fruition as the 20c. proceeded.
text: The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
text: Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.
ref: 2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
text: Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
ref: 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, pages 206–7:
synonyms: get
grow
wax
turn
go
glosses: begin to be; turn into.
examples: text: What became of him after he was let go?
text: It hath becomen so that many a man had to sterve.
text: And Time went forth into the worlds to obey the commands of the gods, yet he cast furtive glances at his masters, and the gods distrusted Time because he had known the worlds or ever the gods became.
ref: 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods, London: William Heineman, →OCLC, page 3:
qualifier: archaic other than in become of
glosses: To come about; happen; come into being; arise.
examples: text: It doesn’t become a true gentleman to speak in such a manner.
text: Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant,
And bring thee forth brave brood.
ref: 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:
text: 1892, Ambrose Bierce, “The Applicant,” in The Collected Works of Ambrose Bierce, Volume II: In the Midst of Life (Tales of Soldiers and Civilians), New York: Gordian Press, 1966,
He was hatted, booted, overcoated, and umbrellaed, as became a person who was about to expose himself to the night and the storm on an errand of charity […]
text: His ordination[…]enabled him to be independent of his parents, and to afford a manner of living which became his rank rather than his calling.
ref: 1930, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, published 2010, page 7:
glosses: To be proper for; to beseem.
examples: text: That dress really becomes you.
glosses: Of an adornment, piece of clothing etc.: to look attractive on (someone).
examples: text: & thenne the noble knyghte sire Launcelot departed with ryghte heuy chere sodenly / that none erthely creature wyste of hym / nor where he was become / but sir Bors
ref: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter II, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII:
text: But, madam, where is Warwick then become?
ref: c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv]:
glosses: To arrive, come (to a place).
Synonyms: sense: to be suitable for
word: befit
sense: to be suitable for
word: suit
Derived terms: becomeness
become of
become one flesh
become one with one's inner self
becomer
become the Joker
disbecome
misbecome
rebecome
unbecome