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take

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

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Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "take", 4-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "take" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "take" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

take is aEnglishverb. It means: To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force. Pronounced /teɪk/. It ranks #128 in English word frequency. Often confused with te and TK.

Key facts for take
PropertyValue
Headwordtake
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/teɪk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#128
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of take in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for take is 4 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /teɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #128 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language.Wiktionary records 89 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 5 documented wrong-spelling variants for take, with forms such as "atke", "taek", and "takke". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "te", "TK", "the", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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- (“t… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is take, spelled T-A-K-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
  2. 2
    To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
  3. 3
    To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
  4. 4
    To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
  5. 5
    To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
  6. 6
    To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
  7. 7
    To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
  8. 8
    To receive or accept (something, especially something which was given).
  9. 9
    To receive or accept (something, especially something which was given).
  10. 10
    To receive or accept (something, especially something which was given).
  11. 11
    To receive or accept (something, especially something which was given).
  12. 12
    To receive or accept (something, especially something which was given).
  13. 13
    To receive or accept (something, especially something which was given).
  14. 14
    To remove.
  15. 15
    To remove.
  16. 16
    To remove.
  17. 17
    To have sex with.
  18. 18
    To defeat (someone or something) in a fight.
  19. 19
    To grasp or grip.
  20. 20
    To select or choose; to pick.
  21. 21
    To select or choose; to pick.
  22. 22
    To carry or lead (something or someone).
  23. 23
    To carry or lead (something or someone).
  24. 24
    To carry or lead (something or someone).
  25. 25
    To carry or lead (something or someone).
  26. 26
    To carry or lead (something or someone).
  27. 27
    To carry or lead (something or someone).
  28. 28
    To use as a means of transportation.
  29. 29
    To obtain for use by payment or lease.
  30. 30
    To obtain for use by payment or lease.
  31. 31
    To receive (medicine or drugs) into one's body, e.g. by inhalation or swallowing; to ingest.
  32. 32
    To consume (food or drink).
  33. 33
    To undergo; to put oneself into, to be subjected to.
  34. 34
    To experience or feel.
  35. 35
    To submit to; to endure (without ill humor, resentment, or physical failure).
  36. 36
    To suffer; to endure (a hardship or damage).
  37. 37
    To participate in.
  38. 38
    To cause to change to a specified state or condition.
  39. 39
    To regard in a specified way.
  40. 40
    To conclude or form (a decision or an opinion) in the mind.
  41. 41
    To understand (especially in a specified way).
  42. 42
    To believe, to accept the statements of.
  43. 43
    To assume or suppose; to reckon; to regard or consider.
  44. 44
    To draw, derive, or deduce (a meaning from something).
  45. 45
    To derive (as a title); to obtain from a source.
  46. 46
    To catch or contract (an illness, etc.).
  47. 47
    To come upon or catch (in a particular state or situation).
  48. 48
    To captivate or charm; to gain or secure the interest or affection of.
  49. 49
    To absorb or be impregnated by (dye, ink, etc.); to be susceptible to being treated by (polish, etc.).
  50. 50
    To let in (water).
  51. 51
    To require (a person, resource or thing in order to achieve an outcome).
  52. 52
    To proceed to fill.
  53. 53
    To fill, occupy, require, or use up (space).
  54. 54
    To fill or require: to last or expend (an amount of time).
  55. 55
    To avail oneself of; to exploit.
  56. 56
    To practice; perform; execute; carry out; do.
  57. 57
    To assume or perform (a form or role).
  58. 58
    To assume or perform (a form or role).
  59. 59
    To assume or perform (a form or role).
  60. 60
    To bind oneself by.
  61. 61
    To go into, through, or along.
  62. 62
    To go into, through, or along.
  63. 63
    To have and use one's recourse to.
  64. 64
    To ascertain or determine by measurement, examination or inquiry.
  65. 65
    To write down; to get in, or as if in, writing.
  66. 66
    To make (a photograph, film, or other reproduction of something).
  67. 67
    To make a picture, photograph, etc. of (a person, scene, etc.).
  68. 68
    To obtain money from, especially by swindling.
  69. 69
    To apply oneself to the study of.
  70. 70
    To deal with.
  71. 71
    To consider in a particular way, or to consider as an example.
  72. 72
    To decline to swing at (a pitched ball); to refrain from hitting at, and allow to pass.
  73. 73
    To accept as an input to a relation.
  74. 74
    To accept as an input to a relation.
  75. 75
    To buy.
  76. 76
    To get or accept (something) into one's possession.
  77. 77
    To engage, take hold or have effect.
  78. 78
    To engage, take hold or have effect.
  79. 79
    To engage, take hold or have effect.
  80. 80
    To engage, take hold or have effect.
  81. 81
    To engage, take hold or have effect.
  82. 82
    To become; to be affected in a specified way.
  83. 83
    To be able to be accurately or beautifully photographed.
  84. 84
    An intensifier.
  85. 85
    To deliver, bring, give (something) to (someone).
  86. 86
    To give or deliver (a blow, to someone); to strike or hit.
  87. 87
    To visit; to include in a course of travel.
  88. 88
    To portray in a painting.
  89. 89
    Used in phrasal verbs: take in, take off, take on, take out, take to, take something to, take up.

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 (“to take”), Swedish ta (“to take”), Danish tage (“to take, seize”), West Frisian take, taakje (“to grab, steal”), Dutch taken (“to take; grasp”), Middle Low German tacken (“to grasp”). English thack may be from the same root. Compare tackle. Despite superficial similarity, unrelated to Proto-Indo-European *tek- (“to take by hand, obtain”), which is instead cognate with English thig (“to beg”).

Synonyms

appropriatebagcatchexpropriategrabgraspgriphelp oneselfhookimpropriatemake free withnabnimpocketsackseizetake

Antonyms

givereturn

This word in other languages

Spanish(Español)Portuguese(Português)French(Français)German(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: atke,taek,takke,tkae,ttake

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for take

Misspelling Variants of "take"

atke4taek4takke5tkae4ttake5
Misspelling Variants of "take"

Frequency rank: #128 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "take"?
"take" is spelled T-A-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /teɪk/.
What does "take" mean?
As a verb, "take" means: To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
What words are commonly confused with "take"?
"take" is commonly confused with "te", "TK", "the". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "take"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "take" is /teɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "take"?
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 *... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter T in our English index:

All "T" wordsABCDEFGHIJKL

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.