Take Meaning
/ˈteɪ̯k/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Definition
verbTo get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
verbTo get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force., To seize or capture.
Sentence Examples
Word Origin & History
From Middle English taken (“to take, lay hold of, grasp, strike”), from Old English tacan (“to grasp, touch”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse taka (“to touch, take”), from Proto-Germanic *tēkaną (“to touch”), from pre-Germanic *deh₁g- (“to touch”), possibly a phonetically altered form of Proto-Indo-European *te-th₂g- (“to touch, take”) (see there for details). Gradually displaced native English nim, from Middle English nimen, from Old English niman (“to take”). Cognates Cognate with Scots tak (“to take”), Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk taka (“to take”), Norwegian Bokmål ta (“to take”), Swedish ta (“to take”), Danish tage (“to take, seize”), West Frisian take, taakje (“to grab, steal”), Dutch taken (“to take; grasp”), Middle Low German tacken (“to grasp”). English thack may be from the same root. Compare tackle. Despite superficial similarity, unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to take by hand, obtain”), which is instead cognate with English thig (“to beg”).