betake, v.
(bɪˈteɪk)
Pa. tense betook. Pa. pple. betaken. For forms see take v.
[ME. be-, bitake(n, f. bi-, be- + take. There seems to have been an early confusion of betake with betæce, betæche, beteach, which extended in part also to the simple take, so that this had the sense of ‘deliver, hand over, give in charge,’ not found in ON., and not logically developed in Eng. from its proper sense of ‘seize, grasp, catch hold of, make oneself holder or owner of.’ In any case, in ME., betake, betôk, betaken was identified in sense with beteach, betaughte, betaught; and only since the latter became obs., has betake tended to revert toward the normal sense of take. See take.]
† 1. trans. To hand over, deliver, give up, grant, place at a person's disposal; = beteach 2. Const. with dat. or to, unto, etc. Obs.
| c 1205 Lay. 6251 Heo sculleð eow, þat lond bi-taken. c 1250 Ibid. 22791 He was bi-take [c 1205 iȝefen] Arthur{revsc} in stede of hostage. a 1300 Havelok 1226 Gold and siluer and oþer fe Bad he us bi-taken þe. c 1400 Destr. Troy iv. 1391 Ercules..Betoke hir to Telamon. 1534 More On Passion Wks. 1338/2 The onely sacrifice betaken by Chryst vnto his christen church. 1618 Rowlands Sacred Mem. 24 Then bread he brake, And that to his Disciples did betake. 1621 Quarles Esther (1638) 89 Zedechia..Into Serajahs peacefull hand betooke The sad contents of a more dismall Booke. |
† b. To hand over to the care of; to entrust, commit, give in charge to; = beteach 3. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 354 He bytoc hym Engelond, þat he yt wel wuste To Wyllammes byofþe. a 1300 Cursor M. 1126 (Gött.) He was noght bitan [C. bi-taght, F. betaȝt, T. bitake] to me. c 1375 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 365 Þe whiche god had bytake to her gouernance. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 34 Betakyn' a thynge to anothere, committo, commendo. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iii. iv. 28 Phœbe to a nymphe her babe betooke To be upbrought in perfect maydenhed. 1649 Selden Laws Eng. i. lix. (1739) 110 The Empress perceiving the power of the Clergy, betakes her case to them. |
† c. To give in marriage. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Ecclus. vii. 27 Bytac a doȝtir and a gret werk thou shalt do; and to a wel felende man ȝif hyr. |
† 2. To commit or commend (one), by the expression of a wish, to (God, the devil, etc.); often as an appreciation or imprecation. Also in leave-taking: To bid adieu, say good-bye. Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 475 God & Seinte Marie, & Sein Denis al so..Ich bitake min soule. c 1386 Chaucer Miller's T. 564 My soule bitake I vn to Sathanas. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 24 Petre be tok Anani..to þe fend to be tormentid perpetuali. 1493 Festyvall (W. de W. 1515) 115 He betoke them to god & Mary maudeleyne to kepe & wente his way. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 406 Nowe to the Devil I the betake. 1642 Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 4 To God Almighty I betake it for support and speedy good success. |
† 3. To allot, to assign; = beteach 5. Obs.
| c 1300 Cursor M. 4001 (Gött.) Þe fiss to water als we finde, Þe foul he bitok [C. be-taght, F. be taȝt] to þe wind. |
4. refl. To commit oneself, have recourse or resort to any kind of action. to betake oneself to one's heels: to retreat in flight, to run away.
| 15.. Sc. Metr. Ps. lvii, My soule doth her betake unto the helpe of the. 1593 Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. vii. §3 When we betake ourselves unto rest. 1598 Greenwey Tacitus' Ann. xii. viii. (1622) 166 The enemy betooke him to his heeles with small losse. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. iii. iv. 240 That defence thou hast, betake the too't. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 22 They betook themselves to a short debate. 1762 Hume Hist. Eng. (1806) III. 220 To betake themselves to other expedients for supporting authority. 1794 Burke Sp. W. Hastings Wks. 1842 XV. 166 They saw him..betaking himself to flight. 1833 H. Martineau Briery Creek v. 107 The Irish betake themselves to rebellion when stopped in their merry-makings. |
† b. intr. (for refl.) Obs.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 28 Then to her yron wagon she betakes. 1606 Sylvester Du Bartas (1633) 320 All be-take to flight. 1641 Milton Ch. Govt. ii. Introd., Whether aught was imposed me by them, or betaken to of mine own choice. |
c. pass.
| 1601 T. Wright Passions of Minde (1620) 303 The matter whereunto I am betaken. |
5. refl. To resort, make one's way, turn one's course, go. (Here the notion of ‘taking’ or ‘conveying’ oneself becomes distinct.)
| 1612 Woodall Surg. Mate Wks. 1653 Pref. 3 It was of old a custome..for the sick to betake themselves unto the..Temple of Aesculapius. 1667 Milton P.L. x. 922 Whither shall I betake me, where subsist? 1714 T. Ellwood Autobiog. 3 He betook himself to London. 1815 L. Hunt Feast Poets 21 So off he betook him the way that he came. |
b. with obj. = refl. pron.
| 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. II. 307 They betook their little quickened hearts behind the panels. |
† 6. To take; to take in some sense. Obs.
| c 1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 639 The x{supt}{suph} day the IIII away betake And other IIII enscore her place into. a 1555 Latimer Wks. (1844–5) I. 73 (D.) As the blanchers have blanched it and wrested it, and as I myself did once betake it. 1591 Spenser M. Hubberd 69 Ere that anie way I doo betake, I meane my Gossip privie first to make. |
† 7. (?) To pursue; to overtake. Obs.
| a 1000 ælfric Colloquy ¶34 Mid swiftum hundum ic betæce [MS. betæcc] wildeor [insequor feras]. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 159 Now may ȝe se Betane the starkest pundelan. 1583 Stanyhurst æneis ii. (Arb.) 52 When slumber sweetlye betaketh Eech mortal person. |