take

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   buy, select

   I'll take a pound of that sausage

2. 2
   verb

   receive or obtain regularly

   We take the Times every day

3. 3
   verb

   make use of or accept for some purpose

   take a risk

4. 4
   verb

   carry out

   take action

5. 5
   verb

   require as useful, just, or proper

   It takes nerve to do what you did.

6. 6
   verb

   be capable of holding or containing

   This box won't take all the items

7. 7
   verb

   be designed to hold or take

   This surface will not take the dye

8. 8
   verb

   ascertain or determine by measuring, computing or take a reading from a dial

   take a pulse

Etymology

From Middle English taken (“to take, lay hold of, grasp, strike”), from Old English tacan (“to grasp, touch”), probably of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse taka (“to touch, take”), from Proto-Germanic *tēkaną (“to touch”), from pre-Germanic *deh₁g- (“to touch”), possibly a phonetically altered form of Proto-Indo-European *te-th₂g- (“to touch, take”) (see there for details). Gradually displaced native English nim, from Middle English nimen, from Old English niman (“to take”). Cognates Cognate with Scots tak (“to take”), Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk taka (“to take”), Norwegian Bokmål ta…