Undertook

How to spell undertook

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce undertook

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does undertook mean?

1. verbPast tense of undertake: committed to and began a task, project, or responsibility.

Undertook in a sentence

• The firm undertook a thorough review of its safety procedures.

• She undertook the kitchen renovation despite the tight budget.

Where does undertook come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is the past tense of the verb 'undertake', a word assembled in Middle English from the native prefix 'under' and the verb 'take'. The 'take' element was itself borrowed into Old English from Old Norse 'taka', meaning 'to grasp, seize, or get hold of', brought over by Scandinavian settlers. The combination 'undertake' originally carried the idea of taking something into one's own hands or charge, and by the 1200s it had settled into the sense of formally committing oneself to a task or pledge. The past form 'undertook' follows the same strong, irregular pattern as 'take' to 'took', which is why we do not add '-ed'. The same root survives in the noun 'undertaker', which once simply meant a person who takes on a job before it narrowed to the funeral trade.

How the word is built

• under- (beneath, in the sense of bringing under one's charge)
• took (past tense of take, from Old Norse taka 'to grasp, seize')