take
/ˈteɪ̯k/verb, noun
take is spelled T-A-K-E. The wrong spelling people search most is tkae: about 20 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 189 of all searches for the word. Take is a verb meaning “To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force”.
How many letters and syllables are in take?
| Letters | 4: T-A-K-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 832 times per million words; the 129th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, tkae, about 20 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell take?
Take is spelled T-A-K-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 188 of the searches for take in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is take?
Take appears 832 times per million words in written English, the 129th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce take?
- /ˈteɪ̯k/
- [ˈtʰeɪ̯k]
- /ˈteːk/
Take has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-to_take.ogg, En-us-take.ogg, En-au-take.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with take?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as take.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: kate, teak, keta.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of take
- takes present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- taking participle, present
- took past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- taken participle, past
- tek
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does take mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To get into one's hands, possession, or control, with or without force.
They took Charlton's gun from his cold, dead hands.
- 2
To seize or capture.
take the guards prisoner
- 3
To catch or get possession of (fish or game).
took ten catfish in one afternoon
- 4
To catch the ball; especially as a wicket-keeper and after the batsman has missed or edged it.
- 5
To appropriate or transfer into one's own possession, sometimes by physically carrying off.
Billy took her pencil.
- 6
To exact.
take a toll
- 7
To capture or win (a piece or trick) in a game.
took the next two tricks
- 8
To receive or accept (something, especially something which was given).
took third place
noun
- 1
An act of taking.
- 2
Money that is taken in, (legal or illegal) proceeds, income; (in particular) profits; takings.
He wants half of the take if he helps with the job.
- 3
The or a quantity of fish, game animals or pelts, etc which have been taken at one time; catch.
- 4
An interpretation or view, opinion or assessment; perspective; a statement expressing such a position.
What's your take on this issue, Fred?
- 5
An approach, a (distinct) treatment.
a new take on a traditional dish
- 6
A scene recorded (filmed) at one time, without an interruption or break; a recording of such a scene.
It's a take.
- 7
A recording of a musical performance made during an uninterrupted single recording period.
- 8
A visible (facial) response to something, especially something unexpected; a facial gesture in response to an event.
did a double take and then a triple take
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Take in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prendre , forcer , prise |
| German | nehmen, greifen , annehmen , einnehmen |
| Portuguese | tomar, agarrar, pegar , tomada , aceitar , rendimento |
| Spanish | tomar, coger, prender , toma |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does take come from?
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”). Alternatively, inherited from Proto-West Germanic *takan (“to take; grasp, touch”). Both 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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).