What does betake mean?
To betake oneself somewhere is to go there or resort to it, as in 'the guests betook themselves to the garden.' The verb is now firmly literary and archaic, appearing mostly in historical fiction, formal prose, or deliberately playful imitation of older English. Its grammar is unusual: it is nearly always reflexive ('betake oneself'), never simply 'betake' with an ordinary object, and it conjugates irregularly — 'betook' in the past tense and 'betaken' as the past participle. A secondary, older sense meaning 'to devote or commit oneself to an activity' has all but vanished from current use. Derived from Old English 'betæcan,' related to 'teach,' the word once meant to deliver, entrust, or set about something, before narrowing toward motion. Writers reach for it when they want elevation, ceremony, or a touch of wit; readers should recognize it but need not use it daily.
verbTo betake oneself somewhere is to go or resort to that place; the word is used almost exclusively in the reflexive form 'betake oneself.' It is now chiefly literary and archaic.
- To go, move, or resort to a place (used reflexively: 'betake oneself to')
- (Archaic) To commit, devote, or apply oneself to an activity or occupation
"With the debate concluded, the senators betook themselves to dinner."
"After the funeral, the mourners betook themselves to the village inn."
"She betook herself to the study of medicine in her thirties."
Shakespeare loved it so much he used it over a hundred times — yet today 'betake' survives mainly in wedding vows and historical novels.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of betake
Betake descends from Old English betæcan, formed from the prefix be- plus tæcan, the same verb that gives us modern 'teach'; the underlying Germanic root also yields 'token' and 'betoken.' Originally it carried senses of delivering, entrusting, or committing something to someone, and by extension applying oneself to a task. Over the Middle English period its meaning shifted toward going or repairing to a place, especially in the reflexive form. It flourished through Early Modern English — Shakespeare used it frequently — before fading into its present literary niche.
Related word forms
How betake is actually used
'Betake' is used almost exclusively in the reflexive construction 'betake oneself,' and its irregular past tense is 'betook' with past participle 'betaken.' It carries a distinctly formal, literary, or humorous-archaic flavor; in everyday modern speech, plain 'go,' 'head,' or 'make one's way' is preferred. The second sense — devoting oneself to an activity — survives only in older texts.
Easily confused with betake
'Beget' means to father or bring into existence offspring or something new, while 'betake' means to go or repair to a place.