v. str. Pa. t. betook. Pa. pple. betaken. For forms see TAKE v. [ME. be-, bitake(n, f. bi-, BE- + TAKE. There seems to have been an early confusion of betake with betæce, betæche, BETEACH, which extended in part also to the simple take, so that this had the sense of ‘deliver, hand over, give in charge,’ not found in ON., and not logically developed in Eng. from its proper sense of ‘seize, grasp, catch hold of, make oneself holder or owner of.’ In any case, in ME., betake, betôk, betaken was identified in sense with beteach, betaughte, betaught; and only since the latter became obs., has betake tended to revert toward the normal sense of take. See TAKE.]
† 1. trans. To hand over, deliver, give up, grant, place at a person’s disposal; = BETEACH 2. Const. with dat. or to, unto, etc. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 6251. Heo sculleð eow, þat long bi-taken. c. 1250 Ibid., 22791. He was bi-take [c. 1205 iȝefen] Arthur; in stede of hostage.
a. 1300. Havelok, 1226. Gold and siluer and oþer fe Bad he us bi-taken þe.
c. 1400. Destr. Troy, IV. 1391. Ercules … Betoke hir to Telamon.
1534. More, On Passion, Wks. 1338/2. The onely sacrifice betaken by Chryst vnto his christen church.
1618. Rowlands, Sacred Mem., 24. Then bread he brake, And that to his Disciples did betake.
1621. Quarles, Esther (1638), 89. Zedechia … Into Serajahs peacefull hand betooke The sad contents of a more dismall Booke.
† b. To hand over to the care of; to entrust, commit, give in charge to; = BETEACH 3. Obs.
1297. R. Glouc., 354. He bytoc hym Engelond, þat he yt wel wuste To Wyllammes byofþe.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 1126 (Gött.). He was noght bitan [C. bi-taght, F. betaȝt, T. bitake] to me.
c. 1375. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 365. Þe whiche god had bytake to her gouernance.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 34. Betakyn’ a thynge to anothere, committo, commendo.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., III. iv. 28. Phœbe to a nymphe her babe betooke To be upbrought in perfect maydenhed.
1649. Selden, Laws Eng., I. lix. (1739), 110. The Empress perceiving the power of the Clergy, betakes her case to them.
† c. To give in marriage. Obs.
1382. Wyclif, Ecclus. vii. 27. Bytac a doȝtir and a gret werk thou shalt do; and to a wel felende man ȝif hyr.
† 2. To commit or commend (one), by the expression of a wish, to (God, the devil, etc.); often as an apprecation or imprecation. Also in leave-taking: To bid adieu, say good-bye. Obs.
1297. R. Glouc., 475. God & Seinte Marie, & Sein Denis al so … Ich bitake min soule.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Milleres T., 564. My soule bitake I vn to Sathanas.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 24. Petre be tok Anani … to þe fend to be tormentid perpetuali.
1493. Festyvall (W. de W., 1515), 115. He betoke them to god & Mary maudeleyne to kepe & wente his way.
1526. Skelton, Magnyf., 406. Nowe to the Devil I the betake.
1642. Evelyn, Mem. (1857), III. 4. To God Almighty I betake it for support and speedy good success.
† 3. To allot, to assign; = BETEACH 5. Obs.
c. 1300. Cursor M., 4001 (Gött.). Þe fiss to water als we finde, þe foul he bitok [C. be-taght, F. be taȝt] to þe wind.
4. refl. To commit oneself, have recourse or resort to any kind of action. To betake oneself to one’s heels: to retreat in flight, to run away.
15[?]. Sc. Metr. Ps., lvii. My soule doth her betake unto the helpe of the.
1593. Hooker, Eccl. Pol., I. vii. § 3. When we betake ourselves unto rest.
1598. Greenwey, Tacitus’ Ann., XII. viii. (1622), 166. The enemy betooke him to his heeles with small losse.
1601. Shaks., Twel. N., III. iv. 240. That defence thou hast, betake the too’t.
1684. Bunyan, Pilgr., II. 22. They betook themselves to a short debate.
1762. Hume, Hist. Eng. (1806), III. 220. To betake themselves to other expedients for supporting authority.
1794. Burke, Sp. W. Hastings, Wks. 1842, XV. 166. They saw him … betaking himself to flight.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Briery Creek, v. 107. The Irish betake themselves to rebellion when stopped in their merry-makings.
† b. intr. (for refl.) Obs.
1596. Spenser, F. Q., I. v. 28. Then to her yron wagon she betakes.
1606. Sylvester, Du Bartas (1633), 320. All be-take to flight.
1641. Milton, Ch. Govt., II. Introd. Whether aught was imposed me by them, or betaken to of mine own choice.
c. passive.
1601. T. Wright, Passions of Minde (1620), 303. The matter whereunto I am betaken.
5. refl. To resort, make one’s way, turn one’s course, go. (Here the notion of ‘taking’ or ‘conveying’ oneself becomes distinct.)
1612. Woodall, Surg. Mate, Wks. 1653, Pref. 3. It was of old a custome … for the sick to betake themselves into the … Temple of Aesculapius.
1667. Milton, P. L., X. 922. Whither shall I betake me, where subsist?
1714. Ellwood, Autobiog., 3. He betook himself to London.
1815. L. Hunt, Feast Poets, 21. So off he betook him the way that he came.
b. with obj. = refl. pron.
1861. Dickens, Gt. Expect., II. 307. They betook their little quickened hearts behind the panels.
† 6. To take; to take in some sense. Obs.
c. 1420. Pallad. on Husb., I. 639. The xth day the IIII away betake And other IIII enscore her place into.
a. 1555. Latimer, Wks. (1844–5), I. 73 (D.). As the blanchers have blanched it and wrested it, and as I myself did once betake it.
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 69. Ere that anie way I doo betake, I meane my Gossip privie first to make.
† 7. (?) To pursue; to overtake. Obs.
a. 1000. Ælfric, Colloquy, ¶ 34. Mid swiftum hundum ic betæce [MS. betæcc] wildeor [insequor feras].
1375. Barbour, Bruce, III. 159. Now may ȝe se Betane the starkest pundelan.
1583. Stanyhurst, Æneis, II. (Arb.), 52. When slumber sweetlye betaketh Eech mortal person.
