Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BE-COME', v.i. [becum'; pret. became, pp. become. Sax. becuman, to fall out or happen; D. bekoomen; G. bekommen, to get or obtain; Sw. bekomma; Dan. bekommer, to obtain; be and come. The Sax. be is the Eng. by. These significations differ from the sense in English. But the sense is, to come to, to arrive, to reach, to fall or pass to. (See Come.) Hence the sense of suiting, agreeing with. In Sax. cuman, Goth. kwiman, is to come, and Sax. cweman, is to please, that is, to suit or be agreeable.]

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 life, and man became a living soul. – Gen. ii. To the Jews, I became as a Jew. – 1 Cor. ix.
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 used by Shakspeare and Spenser, is obsolete; but this is the sense in Saxon, where has he fallen?