• (British) IPA: /bɪˈkʌm/, /bəˈkʌm/

  (Northern England) IPA: /bɪˈkʊm/, /bəˈkʊm/

• (America) IPA: /bəˈkʌm/, /biˈkʌm/

become (becomes, present participle becoming; past became, past participle become)

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To arrive, come (to a place). [9^th-18^thc.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:20.2?rgn=div2;view=fulltext chapter ii], in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII:

     & 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

   • c. 1591–1592, William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act IV, scene iv]:

     But, madam, where is Warwick then become?

2. (copulative) To come about; happen; come into being; arise. [from 12^thc.]

   What became of him after he was let go?

   It hath becomen so that many a man had to sterve.

3. (copulative) begin to be; turn into. [from 12^thc.]

   Synonyms: get, turn, go

   She became a doctor when she was 25.

   The weather will become cold after the sun goes down.

4. (transitive) To be proper for; to beseem. [from 13^thc.]
   • 1610-11?, Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act III, scene ii:

     Ay, lord, she will become thy bed, I warrant,

     And bring thee forth brave brood.

   • 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 […]

   • 1930, Duff Cooper, Talleyrand, Folio Society, 2010, p.7:

     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.

5. (transitive) Of an adornment, piece of clothing etc.: to look attractive on (someone). [from 14^thc.]

   That dress really becomes you.

• (to be suitable for) befit, suit

• French: devenir
• German: werden
• Italian: diventare
• Portuguese: tornar-se, virar, transformar-se em, ficar
• Russian: станови́ться
• Spanish: volver, hacer, convertir, llegar a ser, devenir

• French: aller bien
• German: stehen
• Portuguese: cair bem em
• Russian: идти́
• Spanish: quedar bien