uptake
/ˈʌpteɪk/noun, verb
uptake is spelled U-P-T-A-K-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, uptake means “Understanding; comprehension” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of uptake is uptakes.
How many letters and syllables are in uptake?
| Letters | 6: U-P-T-A-K-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words; the 20,101st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is uptake?
Uptake appears 1.9 times per million words in written English, the 20,101st 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 uptake?
- /ˈʌpteɪk/
As a verb (“To take up, to lift”): /ʌpˈteɪk/.
Uptake has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-uptake.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with uptake?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as uptake.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: takeup.
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 uptake
- uptakes plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- uptaking participle, present
- uptook past
- uptaken participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does uptake mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Understanding; comprehension.
- 2
Absorption, especially of food or nutrient by an organism.
- 3
The act of lifting or taking up.
- 4
datedA chimney.
- 5
datedThe upcast pipe from the smokebox of a steam boiler towards the chimney.
verb
- 1
archaicTo take up, to lift.
- 2
To absorb, as food or a drug by an organism.
- 3
To accept and begin to use, as a new practice.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Uptake in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense absorption:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | absorción, captación, absorbimiento, absorbencia, imbibición |
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 uptake come from?
From Middle English uptaken (“to take up, lift”), partial calque of earlier Middle English upnimen (“to take up, lift”), equivalent to up- + take. Compare Swedish upptaga, uppta (“to take up”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).