betake

/bɪˈteɪk/

betake verb: to take over to; take across (to); deliver.

Verb (1)

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

(obsolete, transitive) To take over to; take across (to); deliver.
(obsolete, transitive) To seize; lay hold of; take.
- a rain-cloud [...] had betaken a dusky brown color, and about its lower verge a fringe of fine straight lines of rain was suggested [...].1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 194
(literary, reflexive) To take oneself to; go or move; repair; resort; have recourse.
- One morning as I lay in my bed, a ſtrong motion vvas ſuddenly glanced into my thoughts of going to London; I aroſe and betook me to the vvay, […]a. 1657, Joseph Hall, “Observations on Some Specialties of Divine Providence in the Life of Jos. Hall, Bishop of Norwich”, in The Shaking of the Olive-Tree. The Remaining Works of that Incomparable...
- The rest, in imitation, to like arms / Betook them.1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
(archaic, reflexive) To commit to a specified action.
(archaic, transitive) To commend or entrust to; to commit to.
(archaic, intransitive, often, poetic) To take oneself.
- Then do no further goe, no further stray, / But here lie downe, and to thy rest betake, / Th'ill to preuent, that life ensewen may. / For what hath life, that may it loued make, / And giues not rather cause it to forsake?1590, Edmund Spenser, Canto IX, in The Faerie Queene, Book I, Stanza 44, lines 1–5

Verb (2)

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

(transitive) To beteach.

betake meaning in Tamil and Malayalam

betake in Tamil

ஒரு முகப்படச் செய், ஒரு வழிப்படுத்து, மேற்கொள்ளுவி, அணுகுவி, ஒருமுகப்படச்செய், ஒருங்குவி

betake in Malayalam

ആശ്രയിക്കുക

Synonyms of betake

wend

Forms of betake

third-person singular present	betakes
present participle	betaking
past	betook
past participle	betaken

Origin of betake

From Middle English bitaken, equivalent to be- + take. Cognate with Danish betage (“to take, deprive, cut off”), Swedish beta (“to take, deprive, cut off”).

From Middle English betaken, bitaken, in form equivalent to be- + take, however, in sense from betæcen, betechen (“to beteach”). More at beteach.

Words that rhyme with betake

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about betake

What does betake mean?: Betake means to take over to; take across (to); deliver.
What is betake in Tamil?: Betake in Tamil is ஒரு முகப்படச் செய், ஒரு வழிப்படுத்து, மேற்கொள்ளுவி. See Betake meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is betake?: Betake is a verb.
How do you pronounce betake?: Betake is pronounced /bɪˈteɪk/.
What is the past tense of betake?: The past tense of betake is betook.

Words near betake in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: betake (page history and authors); betake (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); betake (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-betake.wav.

Cite this entry: “betake.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/betake. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.