A compound of the sources of be- + come.

From Middle English becomen, bicumen, from Old English becuman, from Proto-Germanic *bikwemaną, equivalent to be- + come.

• (British) IPA: /bɪˈkʌm/, /bəˈkʌm/

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

• (America) IPA: /bɪˈkʌm/, /biˈkʌm/, /bəˈkʌm/

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

1. (copulative) begin to be; turn into. [from 12th c.]

   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.

   • 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 ↗:

     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.

2. (intransitive, archaic outside become of) To come about; happen; come into being; arise. [from 12th c.]

   What became of him after he was let go?

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

   • 1906, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], Time and the Gods‎, London: William Heineman, →OCLC ↗, page 3 ↗:

     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.

3. (transitive) To be proper for; to beseem. [from 13th c.]
   • 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]:

     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, published 2010, page 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.

4. (transitive) Of an adornment, piece of clothing etc.: to look attractive on (someone). [from 14th c.]

   That dress really becomes you.

5. (intransitive, obsolete) To arrive, come (to a place). [9th–18th c.]
   • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter [https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/MaloryWks2/1:20.2?rgn=div2;view=fulltext 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

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

   • 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]:

     But, madam, where is Warwick then become?

• (to be suitable for) befit, suit

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

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