undertake

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Contents

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English undertaken, equivalent to under- +‎ take (after undernim).

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

undertake (third-person singular simple present undertakes, present participle undertaking, simple past undertook, past participle undertaken)

  1. (transitive) To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).
    He undertook a course of medication.
  2. (intransitive) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
    He undertook to exercise more in future.
  3. (informal) to overtake on the wrong side.
    I hate people who try and undertake on the motorway.
  4. (archaic, intransitive) To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VII:
      "I have now aspyed one knyght," he seyde, "that woll play hys play at the justys, I undirtake."
  5. (obsolete, transitive) To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book IX:
      So Sir Trystram endured there grete payne, for syknes had undirtake hym – and that ys the grettist payne a presoner may have [...].

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