undertake

English

Alternative forms

undirtake (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English undertaken; equivalent to under- +‎ take (after undernim).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndəˈteɪk/
(General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˌʌndɚˈteɪk/
- Audio (US): (file)
(General Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˌɐndəˈtæɪk/, /ˌandəˈtæɪk/
Rhymes: -eɪk

Verb

undertake (third-person singular simple present undertakes, present participle undertaking, simple past undertook, past participle undertaken)

(transitive) To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).
- 1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 417-420:
  This said, he sat; and expectation held
  His look suspense, awaiting who appeared
  To second, or oppose, or undertake
  The perilous attempt.
(intransitive) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
He undertook to exercise more in future.
- c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]:
  […] if King Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us
  With some few bands of chosen soldiers,
  I’ll undertake to land them on our coast
  And force the tyrant from his seat by war.
(British, informal) To pass a slower moving vehicle on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.
Antonym: overtake
(archaic, intransitive) To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say.
- 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii]:
  That is her ransom; I deliver her;
  And those two counties I will undertake
  Your grace shall well and quietly enjoy.
- 1695, John Woodward, An Essay towards a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies‎^[1], London: Richard Wilkin, Part 4, pp. 222-223:
  […] if those Persons who are curious in collecting either Minerals, or the Shells, Teeth, or other Parts of Animal Bodies that have been buried in the Earth, do but search the Hills after Rains, and the Sea-Shores after Storms, I dare undertake they will not lose their Labour.
(obsolete, transitive) To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.
(obsolete) To assume, as a character; to take on.
- c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
  Quince. […] you must needs play Pyramus.
  Bottom. Well, I will undertake it.
(obsolete) To engage with; to attack, take on in a fight.
- 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
  It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offence to.
(obsolete) To have knowledge of; to hear.
- 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 34:
  Ne he his mouth would open unto wight,
  Untill that Guyon selfe unto him spake,
  And called Brigadore, (so was he hight,)
  Whose voice so soone as he did undertake,
  Eftsoones he stood as still as any stake,
(obsolete) To have or take charge of.
- 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
  To the water side I must conduct your grace;
  Then give my charge up to Sir Nicholas Vaux,
  Who undertakes you to your end.

Usage notes

Sense: To commit oneself. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive.
See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

Translations

to start an enterprise

Arabic: قَامَ (ar) (qāma)
Bulgarian: предприемам (bg) (predpriemam)
Catalan: emprendre (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 進行 / 进行 (zh) (jìnxíng)
Dalmatian: imprandro
Dutch: ondernemen (nl)
Esperanto: entrepreni (eo)
Finnish: ryhtyä (fi), ruveta (fi)
French: entreprendre (fr)
German: unternehmen (de), ausführen (de)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: ἐπιχειρέω (epikheiréō)
Italian: intraprendere (it)
Japanese: 取り掛かる (ja) (とりかかる, torikakaru)
Korean: 맡다 (ko) (matda)
Latin: adeo (la)
Occitan: emprendre, emprene
Portuguese: empreender (pt) m
Romanian: întreprinde (ro)
Russian: предпринима́ть (ru) impf (predprinimátʹ), предприня́ть (ru) pf (predprinjátʹ)
Spanish: emprender (es), acometer (es), derrancar (es), entrar en faena (es), meterse en faena (es)
Turkish: girişmek (tr)
Ukrainian: роби́ти (uk) (robýty), зді́йснювати (uk) (zdíjsnjuvaty), розпочина́ти (rozpočynáty), бра́тися (uk) (brátysja)

to commit oneself to an obligation

Bulgarian: поемам задължение (poemam zadǎlženie)
German: sich verpflichten (de)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: ἐπιχειρέω (epikheiréō)
Italian: impegnarsi (it), dedicarsi (it)
Maori: oati
Polish: przedsięwziąć (pl) impf
Portuguese: dedicar (pt), comprometer-se
Russian: руча́ться (ru) impf (ručátʹsja), поручи́ться (ru) pf (poručítʹsja)
Slovene: zavezati se pf
Spanish: comprometerse a (es)
Ukrainian: руча́тися (ručátysja), гарантува́ти (harantuváty)

Noun

undertake (plural undertakes)

(British, informal) The passing of slower traffic on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.
Antonym: overtake