Etymograph

English

become

Become comes from Old English becuman ‘to come (to), approach, arrive, enter, meet…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to step’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-1‘to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷémt1‘to take a step’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwemaną2‘to come’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bikwemaną2‘to come around’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150becuman2‘to come’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500becomen2
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1485become2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kwemaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English become
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory: “& thenne the noble knyghte sire Launcelot departed with…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷem-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kwemaną‘to step’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷémtWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *kwemaną‘to take a step’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*kwemanąWiktionary, English become‘to come’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bikwemanąWiktionary, English become‘to come around’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150becumanWiktionary, English become‘to come’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500becomenWiktionary, English become
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1485becomeWiktionary, English become. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1485, Sir Thomas Malory: “& thenne the noble knyghte sire Launcelot departed with…”

Formed from be- + come

Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi ‘at, near’

Proto-Indo-European *h₁pi

Proto-Germanic *bi ‘near, by’

Proto-Germanic *bi-

Proto-West Germanic *bi-

English be-

Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to come’

…

Proto-Germanic *kwemaną ‘to come’

Proto-West Germanic *kweman ‘to come’

Old English cuman ‘to come’

Middle English comen ‘to come’

English come

The story

A compound of the sources of be- + come. Sense of "befit, suit" due to influence from Middle English cweme, icweme, see queem.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‘to step’

event, base, basic, basis, revenue, adventure, avenue, convention, bass, venue, inventory, diabetes, convenience, advent, intervene, inventor, invent, souvenir, provenance, pug, convene, contravention, revenant, circumvention, contravene, quim, 54 more

through Proto-Germanic *kwemaną ‘to come’

coming, cum, cometh, 3 more

Today it means

verb begin to be; turn into (often with permanent states).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “become”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *kwemaną. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- / become

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