make

A1 Topic:Cause, Change & Process

Also spelled Mak and makin

US /meɪk/ UK /meɪk/ See IPA manual

Freq #107

Meanings

1

verb
To create or produce something.

She decided to make a cake for her brother's birthday.
2

verb
To cause something to happen or someone to feel a certain way.

That sad film always makes me cry.
3

verb
To force or persuade someone to do something.

My parents made me clean my room before going out.
4

verb
To earn or gain money.

He makes a good living as a software engineer.
5

verb
To put something in order or arrange it neatly.

Please make your bed before you leave for school.

Verb forms

make, made, made irregular verb

Multiword verbs with make

make off Phrasal verb A1

to escape or leave quickly, often taking something away
make over Phrasal verb A1

to transform something by changing or renewing it

Thesaurus

Synonyms

5 verb · to put something in order... make up

Word family

Derived forms demakeforemakehandmakelawmakingmackemmacklymakablemake-aheadmake-and-breakmake-before-breakmake-believemake-debate

Related forms match

Appears in

Phrases (44)

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make a call
to telephone someone

Verb + noun
make a friend
to form a friendship with a new person

Verb + noun
make a plan
to devise a strategy or scheme for achieving something

Verb + noun
make a wish
to express a desire or hope, especially as a ritual gesture

Verb + noun
make coffee
to prepare coffee for drinking

Verb + noun
make dinner
to prepare and put together the evening meal

Verb + noun

Idioms (16)

See all

kiss and make up
to reconcile and become friendly again after an argument
make ends meet
To earn just enough money to cover your basic expenses.
make someone's day
to make someone very happy
make up one's mind
to reach a decision, especially for oneself rather than following others
make a go of
to turn an undertaking into a lasting success
make a killing
to earn a very large amount of money quickly

Proverbs (104)

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Tongue twisters (2)

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Betty Botter
Betty Botter bought some butter. “But,” she said, “this butter’s bitter; If I put it in my batter, It will make my batter bitter; But a bit of better butter Will but make my batter better.” So she bought a bit of butter Better than the bitter butter, And made her bitter batter better. So it was better Betty Botter Bought a bit of better butter.

Compare the vowels in bit, better, batter and butter while keeping /b/ steady. Use your normal accent for the middle consonant of Betty, ...
The Meal-Mill Wheel
Much water makes the meal-mill wheel work well.

Close the lips for /m/, then round them for /w/. Contrast meal and mill while keeping the /l/ at the end of each; a meal-mill grinds grain.

Etymology

From Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”). Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). Doublet of match.

make Middle English ġemaca Old English *gamakō Proto-West Germanic *gamakô Proto-Germanic *maǵ- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process

External links

# make

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /meɪk/
**IPA (UK):** /meɪk/
**Frequency rank:** 107

## Meanings
1. To create or produce something.
2. To cause something to happen or someone to feel a certain way.
3. To force or persuade someone to do something.
4. To earn or gain money.
5. To put something in order or arrange it neatly.

## Examples
- She decided to make a cake for her brother's birthday.
- That sad film always makes me cry.
- My parents made me clean my room before going out.
- He makes a good living as a software engineer.
- Please make your bed before you leave for school.

## Derived Forms
- demake
- foremake
- handmake
- lawmaking
- mackem
- mackly
- makable
- make-ahead
- make-and-break
- make-before-break
- make-believe
- make-debate

## Related Forms
- match

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: make
- Root: ġemaca
- Root: *gamakō
- Root: *gamakô
- Root: *maǵ-

## Etymology
From Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”). Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). Doublet of match.

## AI Etymology
Make comes from Middle English make, imake, ȝemace, from Old English ġemaca (“a mate, an equal, companion, peer”), from Proto-West Germanic *gamakō, from Proto-Germanic *gamakô (“companion, comrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *maǵ- (“to knead, oil”). Reinforced by Old Norse maki (“an equal”). Cognate with Icelandic maki (“spouse”), Swedish make (“spouse, husband”), Danish mage (“companion, fellow, mate”). In present-day English its meanings include to create or produce something, to cause something to happen or someone to feel a certain way, and to force or persuade someone to do something. The historical chain runs through make (Middle English), ġemaca (Old English), *gamakō (Proto-West Germanic), *gamakô (Proto-Germanic), and *maǵ- (Proto-Indo-European).

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process

markdown

make

Meanings

Verb forms

Multiword verbs with make

Thesaurus

Appears in

Phrases (44)

Idioms (16)

Proverbs (104)

Tongue twisters (2)

Etymology

Topics

External links

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