betake
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cause to go (usually used reflexively).
She betook herself to town.
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Archaic. to resort or have recourse to.
verb
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to go; move
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archaic to apply (oneself) to
Etymology
Origin of betake
First recorded in 1175–1225, betake is from the Middle English word bitaken. See be-, take
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Aving already ad bestselling olidays in Paris and Manhattan, Mrs. 'Arris as ardly anyplace else to betake erself to but the Ouse of Commons.
From Time Magazine Archive
"And it is here that I must betake me to my Lord Don Quixote in order that I may learn of him how to confront ridicule and overcome it."
From Time Magazine Archive
Propaganda for return of the pre-machine modes of production is equivalent to preaching that man should do away with clothes, grow hair all over his body and betake himself to the forests.
From Time Magazine Archive
Gradually the household betake themselves to bed and Authoress Dix reviews them as they lie, wrapped in their several irremediable miseries.
From Time Magazine Archive
In the day they go into the cities and the villages to gain over souls and to work; in the night they betake themselves to hermitages and solitary places and give themselves up to contemplation.
From The Story of Assisi by Lina Duff Gordon
Whereupon Miss Lambkin, with her head in the air, had betaken herself to Mrs. Upjohn.
From Concerning Sally by William John Hopkins
"He is not in France, and, according to what I have learned, has betaken himself to Italy."
From The Barber of Paris by Charles Paul de Kock
They might be affluent, and to them it was possible that Mr. Dudley, in this change of fortune, had betaken himself for relief.
From Ormond, Volume III (of 3) or, The Secret Witness by Charles Brockden Brown
Having betaken ourselves to one of the residences of Mr. Nourvady....
From The Princess of Bagdad a play in three acts by Alexandre Dumas
It being too late in the year to begin rebuilding, the woodsman had betaken himself to the Settlements for the winter, trusting to begin, in the spring, the slow repair of his fortunes.
From Hoof and Claw by Sir Charles George Douglas Roberts
When conscience has extorted a confession, she returns him to his monastery and God, betaking herself to the Garden of Allah, gem of the desert, where their courtship began and her days will end.
From Time Magazine Archive
Again betaking himself to Frankfort, the prioress, Catharina von Meerfeld, of the convent of White Ladies, harboured him and his family in despite of the authorities.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 4 "Finland" to "Fleury, Andre" by Various
On my way home—remember, it was before eight o'clock—I met her betaking herself to what she calls "matins."
From The Strand Magazine, Volume V, Issue 25, January 1893 An Illustrated Monthly by Various
When the three had arrived within a hundred yards of Mr. McGee's destination they separated, each betaking himself to his own lodging-house.
From The Canadian Portrait Gallery - Volumes 1 to 4 by John Charles Dent
Mr. Newhall's venture proving unsuccessful, Mrs. Garrison was constrained to resume nursing and Lloyd was sent back to Newburyport, his brother betaking himself to the sea.
From Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6 A series of pen and pencil sketches of the lives of more than 200 of the most prominent personages in History by Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne
Last week Sir John Simon betook himself to a microphone connected with a Continental hook-up and made a speech in French.
From Time Magazine Archive
Mr. Chamberlain betook him to his residence in Morpeth Mansions.
From Time Magazine Archive
Harry Bridges knotted-a brown-and-yellow necktie around his matchstick neck one day and betook himself to San Francisco's federal court.
From Time Magazine Archive
No wonder then that Tcheng Loh betook his gangling, spidery self, last week, to the office of paunchy, sleepy-eyed French Foreign Minister Aristide Briand, his friend and frequent counselor.
From Time Magazine Archive
We betook ourselves below and sate ourselves with great satisfaction.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
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