undertake

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English undertaken,^[2][3][4] formed from Middle English under- + taken (“to take”),^[5][2][6] modelled on underniman (“to receive, undertake”).^[5][7][6] It replaced that verb and underfōn in the same senses.^[6] The Old English verb is cognate with Dutch ondernemen and German unternehmen,^[2][7] and Klein sees the Middle English verb as a loan translation of it.^[7] The verb take came into late Old English from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse taka (“to take, grasp”).^[2][8] French entreprendre, from entre (“between, among”) and prendre (“to take”), is a parallel formation.^[2][7][9] Etymonline suggests that under here may be the same element as in understand.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

To take by craft, to entrap or seize upon: about 1175, in the Ormulum, a sense obsolete by 1470.^[5][2][6] Before 1250 it also meant to accept or receive willingly.^[5][8]

Semantic evolution

The modern sense, to take something upon oneself or take it in hand, appears around 1340 in Richard Rolle's Psalter,^[5] and Etymonline dates "to set about doing" to about 1300.^[2] From the 1380s it took an infinitive, as in Chaucer; from 1393 it could also mean to promise or assert something formally, as in Langland.^[5] Chaucer used the verb 29 times, for undertaking an enterprise and for declaring or affirming.^[10] Middle English also used it for rebuking (from 1377), for receiving and for understanding, all now obsolete.^[5][6] The sense of standing surety for someone dates from the 16th century.^[8] Johnson (1755) defined it as "to attempt; to engage in".^[11] The derivative undertaker first meant a helper or contractor, and was later narrowed to a person who arranges funerals.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 1175 – to entrap, seize (obsolete by 1470).^[5]
• before 1250 – to accept, receive willingly.^[5]
• c. 1300 – to set about doing something.^[2]
• before 1340 – to take upon oneself, take in hand.^[5]
• 1362 – I undertake, added to a statement.^[5]
• 1377 – to rebuke, chide (obsolete by 1691).^[5]
• c. 1385 – with an infinitive, to commit oneself to do something.^[5]
• 1393 – to promise formally, to affirm.^[5]
• 1647 – noun, an undertaking (obsolete by 1676).^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To take on or begin a task or responsibility: The council undertook a review of local bus routes.
2. To promise or commit oneself to do something: She undertook to finish the report by Friday.
3. To affirm or declare something formally.
4. (archaic) To make oneself responsible for someone or something.

Word family

• undertaker
• undertaking

Related words

• take
• understand
• enterprise

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
8. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.