become
/bɪˈkʌm/
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.40 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To get, receive.
Example Sentences
- "Near-synonyms: get, turn, go, come, fall, grow, wax"
- "She became a doctor when she was 25."
- "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."
- "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."
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɪˈkʌm/
Usage
Inflected Forms
becomes (present, singular)
becoming (participle, present)
became (past)
became (dialectal, participle)
becomen (participle, past)
no-table-tags (table tags)
glossary (inflection template)
became (first person, past)
becomed (archaic, first person)
becomest (archaic, present)
became (past, second person)
becamest (archaic, past)