undertake
Pronunciation
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
- To take on or begin a task or responsibility: The council undertook a review of local bus routes.
- To promise or commit oneself to do something: She undertook to finish the report by Friday.
- To affirm or declare something formally.
- (archaic) To make oneself responsible for someone or something.
Word family
- undertaker
- undertaking
Related words
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ 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)
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
- ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.