Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Become
Be-come′
,Verb.
I.
[
imp.
Became
; p. p.
Become
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Becoming
.] 1.
To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a new character.
The Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became
a living soul. Gen. ii. 7.
That error now which is
become
my crime. Milton.
2.
To come; to get.
[Obs.]
But, madam, where is Warwick then
become
! Shakespeare
To become of
, to be the present state or place of; to be the fate of; to be the end of; to be the final or subsequent condition of.
What is then
become of
so huge a multitude? Sir W. Raleigh.
Be-come′
,Verb.
T.
To suit or be suitable to; to be congruous with; to befit; to accord with, in character or circumstances; to be worthy of, or proper for; to cause to appear well; – said of persons and things.
It
becomes
me so to speak of so excellent a poet. Dryden.
I have known persons so anxious to have their dress
become
them, as to convert it, at length, into their proper self, and thus actually to become
the dress. Coleridge.
Webster 1828 Edition
Become
BECOME
,Verb.
I.
pp.
1.
To pass from one state to another; to enter into some state or condition, by a change from another state or condition, or by assuming or receiving new properties or qualities, additional matter, or a new character; as, a cion becomes a tree. The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of like and man became a living soul.
To the Jew, I became a Jew.
2.
To become of, usually with what preceding; to be the fate of; to be the end of; to be the final or subsequent condition; as, what will become of our commerce? what will become of us? In the present tense, it applies to place as well as condition. What has become of my friend? that is, where is he? as well as, what is his condition? Where is he become? used by Shakespeare and Spenser, is obsolete; but this is the sense in Saxon, where has he fallen?
BECOME
,Verb.
T.
If I become not a cart as well as another man.
This use of the word however is less frequent, the verb usually expressing the suitableness of things, to persons or to other things; as, a robe becomes a prince.
It becomes not a cart as well as another man.
Definition 2024
become
become
English
Verb
become (third-person singular simple present becomes, present participle becoming, simple past became or (nonstandard) becomed, past participle become or (rare, dialectal) becomen)
- (intransitive, obsolete) To arrive, come (to a place). [9th-18thc.]
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, 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
- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
- But, madam, where is Warwick then become?
- 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter ii, in Le Morte Darthur, book XVIII:
- (copulative) To come about; happen; come into being; arise. [from 12thc.]
- What became of him after he was let go?
- It hath becomen so that many a man had to sterve.
- (copulative) begin to be; turn into. [from 12thc.]
- She became a doctor when she was 25.
- The weather will become cold after the sun goes down.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 8, in The Celebrity:
- 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.
- 2012 May 13, Alistair Magowan, “Sunderland 0-1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
- Then, as the Sunderland fans' cheers bellowed around the stadium, United's title bid was over when it became apparent City had pinched a last-gasp winner to seal their first title in 44 years.
- 2013 May-June, William E. Conner, “An Acoustic Arms Race”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 206-7:
- Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.
- (transitive) To be proper for; to befit. [from 13thc.]
- 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.
- 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,
- (transitive) Of an adornment, piece of clothing etc.: to look attractive on (someone). [from 14thc.]
- That dress really becomes you.
Synonyms
Translations
to begin to be
|
|
to look attractive on, be suitable for
|
References
- become in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- become in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
- The Dictionary of the Scots Language