ontake

English

Etymology

From Middle English ontaken, equivalent to on- +‎ take. Compare Old English onniman (“to receive, take”).

Verb

ontake (third-person singular simple present ontakes, present participle ontaking, simple past ontook, past participle ontaken)

1. (transitive) To take on; undertake; assume.
   • 1862, William Anderson, The Scottish nation:

     In 1413 he entered into a bond of manrent at Dundee, with the earl of Crawford, that he, the said Sir Patrick," is becumyn man of special retinue till the said earl, for the term of his life, nane ontaken but amitie and allegiance till our lord the king, [...]

2. (transitive, UK dialectal) To undertake a debt.

Noun

ontake (plural ontakes)

1. A taking on; that which is taken on; acquisition.
   • 1975, The Australian library journal, volume 24:

     [...] as only about 4 per cent of library ontake would be affected.

   • 1982, Glückauf: Volume 118, Issues 19-24:

     In very faulted seam zones unduly high power ontakes of the plough drives showed that the set values were already too high.

   • 1988, R. P. Whittington, Database systems engineering:

     Ontake of existing data This is a step that can easily be underestimated both in its complexity and in the resources required.

   • 2006, Don Nava, Fit after 40: 3 keys to looking good and feeling great - Page 74:

     Reevaluate your “ontake” factors. In addition to intake, you may also need to address factors related to what I call “ontake.”

Derived terms

• ontake debt

Anagrams

• Keaton, aketon, no-take, take on