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Webster 1913 Edition


Betake

Be-take′

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Betook
;
p. p.
Betaken
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Betaking
.]
[Pref.
be-
+
take
.]
1.
To take or seize.
[Obs.]
Spenser.
2.
To have recourse to; to apply; to resort; to go; – with a reflexive pronoun.
They
betook
themselves to treaty and submission.
Burke.
The rest, in imitation, to like arms
Betook
them.
Milton.
Whither shall I
betake
me, where subsist?
Milton.
3.
To commend or intrust to; to commit to.
[Obs.]

Webster 1828 Edition


Betake

BETA'KE

,
Verb.
T.
pret. betook; pp. betaken. [be and take.]
1.
To take to; to have recourse to; to apply; to resort; with the reciprocal pronoun; as, to betake ourselves to arms, or to action. It generally implies a motion towards an object, as to betake ourselves to a shade grove; or an application of the mind or faculties, corresponding with such motion, as to betake ourselves to study or to vice.
2.
Formerly, to take or seize.

Definition 2024


betake

betake

English

Verb

betake (third-person singular simple present betakes, present participle betaking, simple past betook, past participle betaken)

  1. (transitive) To beteach.

Etymology 2

From be- + take. Cognate with Danish betage (to take, deprive, cut off), Swedish betaka (to take, deprive, cut off).

Verb

betake (third-person singular simple present betakes, present participle betaking, simple past betook, past participle betaken)

  1. (transitive, obsolete) To take over to; take across (to); deliver.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To seize; lay hold of; take. [from 15th c.]
    • 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska 2005, p. 194:
      a rain-cloud [...] had betaken a dusky brown color, and about its lower verge a fringe of fine straight lines of rain was suggested [...].
  3. (reflexive, archaic) To take oneself to; go or move; repair; resort; have recourse. [from 17th c.]
    • 1885, Sir Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, Night 12:
      I was glad of my arrival for I was wearied with the way, and yellow of face for weakness and want; but my plight was pitiable and I knew not whither to betake me.
    • 1924, Herman Melville, Billy Budd, London: Constable & Co., Chapter 12,
      [] he mechanically rose, and sleepily wondering what could be in the wind, betook himself to the designated place []
    They betook themselves to treaty and submission. Burke.
    The rest, in imitation, to like arms / Betook them. Milton.
  4. (reflexive, archaic) To commit to a specified action. [from 16th c.]
  5. (transitive, archaic) To commend or entrust to; to commit to.
  6. (intransitive, archaic) To take oneself. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
Synonyms
Translations