become
Syllables: be·come
More pronunciations (2)Fewer pronunciations
Southern England/bɪˈkʌm/Northern England/bɪˈkʊm/
become verb: begin to be; turn into (often with permanent states).
Verb
become (third-person singular simple present becomes, present participle becoming, simple past became or (dialectal) become, past participle become or (dialectal) became or becomen)
- begin to be; turn into (often with permanent states).
- Near-synonyms: get, turn, go, come, fall, grow, wax
- She became a doctor when she was 25.
- 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.
- To be appropriate for.
- It doesn’t become a true gentleman to speak in such a manner.
- Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant,
And bring thee forth brave brood.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...
- Of an adornment, piece of clothing etc.: to look attractive on (someone).
- That dress really becomes you.
- To arrive, come (to a place).
- & 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 Bors1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter II, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII
- But, madam, where is Warwick then become?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...
- To get, receive.
- The "Buddy Mode" is an option you can use if you are playing against a friend on your computer. Then both human players become help by another, randomly choosed computer controlled wrestler.^([sic])1997 February 12, Mathias van Gemmern, “WWF95/BuddyMode”, in bit.listserv.games-l (Usenet), via Google Groups, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2026
- Hallo, this is my favorite URL. You can surfing and become cash.^([sic])2000 January 30, Theresa <theresa_online@hotmail.com>, “Check URL and become money”, in microsoft.public.access.3rdpartyusrgrp (Usenet), via Google Groups, archived from the original on 24 Apr 2026
become meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
become in Hindi
- to begin to be
- बनना bannā, हो जाना ho jānā
become in Tamil
- to begin to be
- ஆகு āku
become in Marathi
- to become
- होणे hoṇe, बनणे banṇe
become in Urdu
- to begin to be
- ہو جانا ho jānā, بَنْنا bannā
More languagesFewer languages
- become in Bengali
- ঘটা, মানান, মানানসই হওয়া, খাটা
- become in Telugu
- అగు agu
- become in Malayalam
- ഉണ്ടാകുക uṇṭākuka
- become in Kannada
- ಆಗು, ಉಂಟಾಗು, ಏಱ್
- become in Punjabi
- ਹੋ ਜਾਣਾ ho jāṇā, بننا baṇ-ṇā, جانا jāṇā, ہونا hoṇā
- become in Gujarati
- બનવું banvũ, થવું thavũ, પડવું paḍvũ, પલળવું palaḷvũ
- become in Sanskrit
- भवति bhávati, अस्ति ásti, भूत bhūtá, प्रभूत prábhūta
- become in Assamese
- হৈ যোৱা hoi züa, হ ho, হোৱা hüa
- become in Nepali
- बन्नु bannu
- become in Pashto
- شول šwël
- become in Tagalog
- magíng
- become in Arabic
- صَارَ ṣāra, أَصْبَحَ ʔaṣbaḥa
- become in Malay
- semakin, menjadi
- become in Indonesian
- menjadi
- become in Thai
- กลาย glaai
- become in Vietnamese
- trở nên, trở thành
- become in Myanmar
- ဖြစ် hprac
Examples of become in a sentence
- The weather will become cold after the sun goes down.
- The full extent of my injuries did not become evident until they tried to move me.
- The sense ‘state or process of bearing fruit’ has become imposed on fruition as the 20c. proceeded.
- Social workers take your children away and it is very difficult to become back your own children.2002 July 24, Joop Hermans, “Bill is back in 1940”, in alt.parenting.spanking (Usenet), via Google Groups, archived from the original on 24...
Synonyms of become
Forms of become
| third-person singular present | becomes |
|---|---|
| present participle | becoming |
| past | became |
| past participle | become |
| past participle | becomen |
| past (dialectal) | become |
| past participle (dialectal) | became |
| first-person singular past (archaic) | becomed |
| second-person singular present (archaic) | becomest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | becamest |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | becamedst |
| second-person singular past (archaic) | becomed |
| third-person singular present (archaic) | becometh |
| third-person singular past (archaic) | becomed |
| plural past (archaic) | becomed |
| past subjunctive (archaic) | becomed |
Origin of become
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.
Words formed from become
Words that rhyme with become
Questions about become
- What does become mean?
- Become means begin to be; turn into (often with permanent states).
- What is become in Hindi?
- Become in Hindi is बनना (bannā), हो जाना (ho jānā). See Become meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use become in a sentence?
- The weather will become cold after the sun goes down.
- What part of speech is become?
- Become is a verb.
- How do you pronounce become?
- Become is pronounced /bɪˈkʌm/ (Southern England).
- What is the past tense of become?
- The past tense of become is became.
Words near become in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: become (page history and authors); बनणे (Marathi) (page history and authors); become (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ഉണ്ടാകുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); become (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); آنا (Punjabi) (page history and authors); આવવું (Gujarati) (page history and authors); अस्ति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); হ (Assamese) (page history and authors); شول (Pashto) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-become.ogg.
Cite this entry: “become.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/become. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.