Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To cause (oneself) to go or move.
- v. Archaic To commit.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To seize; take hold of; take.
- Reflexively, to take one's self (to); repair; resort; have recourse.
- To take one's self.
- Same as beteach.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To beteach.
- v. transitive, obsolete To take over to; take across (to); deliver.
- v. transitive, archaic To commend or entrust to; to commit to.
- v. intransitive, archaic To take oneself.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. obsolete To take or seize.
- v. To have recourse to; to apply; to resort; to go; -- with a reflexive pronoun.
- v. obsolete To commend or intrust to; to commit to.
Etymologies
- From be- + take. Cognate with Danish betage ("to take, deprive, cut off"), Swedish betaka ("to take, deprive, cut off"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English bitaken : bi-, be- + taken, to take; see take. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“If you endeavor to approach these bird in their haunts, they betake themselves to flight.”
“It is a sign of our times, conspicuous to the coarsest observer, that many intelligent and religious persons withdraw themselves from the common labors and competitions of the market and the caucus, and betake themselves to a certain solitary and critical way of living, from which no solid fruit has yet appeared to justify their separation.”
“I betake myself to Allah for refuge from the accursed Satan.”
“Turning away from childish games, she used to hide herself in retired chambers, that she might give herself up more completely to prayer; and by constantly reading the deeds of holy men, she was so inflamed with the desire of a more austere life, that she even laid a plan with her brother to run away from their father's house and to betake themselves to a desert place.”
“Note 51: The custom of all the gentlemen of the house was to betake themselves straightway after supper to my lady Duchess; where, among the other pleasant pastimes and music and dancing that continually were practised, sometimes neat questions were proposed, sometimes ingenious games were devised at the choice of one or another, in which under various disguises the company disclosed their thoughts figuratively to whom they liked best.”
Architecture and Memory: The Renaissance Studioli of Federico da Montefeltro
“As he had no passport, he was arrested after a few days, told to betake himself to another country and released.”
“On the arrival of spring they betake themselves to Antarctica, where they have their regular rookeries in places where there is bare ground.”
“Otranto himself, and most of his followers, were obliged to betake themselves to the unknightly labours of the oar.”
“Sirrah, no railing, but, betake thyself to thy teeth.”
“They say you cannot live in Rome and strive with the Pope; so my uncle thought it best to cross the Rhine, and betake himself to”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘betake’.
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harmonygritz's Cross Words
Words discovered while doing puzzles. Includes puns, e.g. taper vs. tapir.
hodad, hart, avocet, cahier, blackbird, brace, fetor, Bren, Rialto, bijou, liveried, stentor and 64 more...
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Belistful
Tubey or not tubey.
belittle, bedazzle, besiege, besmirch, bespeckle, beget, bemoan, befuddle, befriend, become, besot, becloud and 596 more...
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Words that make you go hmmmm...
Interesting words you probably won't hear in your day-to-day.
maxwell, mooncalf, quagga, glaikit, musquash, lingam, haruspex, qindarka, chthonic, ipomoea, azimuthal, valuta and 304 more...
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participation
parade, pare, parlay, parry, parure, apparatus, apparel, comprador, disparate, emperor, imperative, imperator and 86 more...
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Belist
Be- verbs (or verbals).
Words bewet through becalm were gratefully cribbed from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Be-bewitch, bedeck, bedaub, become, bewilder, beknight, bereave, believe, behead, besiege, bespeak, befriend and 53 more...
Tweets
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