WordCodex

become

become - English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA: /bɪˈkʌm/, /bəˈkʌm/
    • (Northern England) IPA: /bɪˈkʊm/, /bəˈkʊm/
  • Hyphenation: be‧come

Verb

become (third-person singular simple present becomes, present participle becoming, simple past became, past participle become or (rare, dialectal) becomen)

  1. (copulative) begin to be; turn into.
    • Synonyms: get, turn, go
    • She became a doctor when she was 25.
    • The weather will become cold after the sun goes down.
    • The sense ‘state or process of bearing fruit’ has become imposed on fruition as the 20c. proceeded.
  2. (copulative) To come about; happen; come into being; arise.
    • What became of him after he was let go?
    • It hath becomen so that many a man had to sterve.
  3. (transitive) To be proper for; to beseem.
  4. (transitive) Of an adornment, piece of clothing etc.: to look attractive on (someone).
    • That dress really becomes you.
  5. (intransitive, obsolete) To arrive, come (to a place).

Usage notes

  • In Early Modern English, the second-person informal singular indicative verb forms used with thou were becomest in the present and becamest in the past tenses. Similarly, becometh was used as a third-person singular indicative present form.
  • Also in Early Modern English, to become (and some other intranstive verbs like to come and to go) used the auxiliary be rather than have for perfect aspect constructions. In current usage, to have is standard.
    • 1965, The Decision to Drop the Bomb‎, PeriscopeFilm, spoken by Interviewee (J.R. Oppenheimer), the original text in Sanskrit and his own translation:
      • कालोऽस्मि लोकक्षयकृत्प्रवृद्धो / लोकान्समाहर्तुमिह प्रवृत्तः ।
        • kāloʼsmi lokakṣayakṛtpravṛddho / lokānsamāhartumiha pravṛttaḥ .
        • Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds
  • These forms and uses persisted into Modern English in a few archaic, dialectal, poetic, etc. contexts.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Meaning and Definition of become
© 2022 WordCodex