See undertaken in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
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"lang": "Middle English",
"lang_code": "enm",
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{
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"ref": "1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, lines 289-291:",
"text": "As leene was his hors as is a rake,\nAnd he nas nat right fat, I undertake,\nBut looked holwe and therto sobrely.",
"type": "quote"
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],
"glosses": [
"To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say."
],
"id": "en-undertaken-enm-verb-S3Ky6Rbo",
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"pledge"
],
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"assure",
"assure"
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"dare say"
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"ref": "1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxxvij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book IX:",
"text": "there came fourty knyghtes to sire Darras\n[…]\n and they wold haue slayne sire Tristram and his two felawes\n but sire Darras wold not suffre that but kepte them in pryson\n[…]\n So sire Tristram endured there grete payne\n for sekenesse had vndertake hym\n and that is the grettest payne a prysoner maye haue",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon."
],
"id": "en-undertaken-enm-verb-PtSTMBnt",
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"ref": "1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XIX, Chapter x, leaf 394v:",
"text": "Soo it happend in Spayne there was an Erles sone his name was Alphegus / and at a grete turnement in spayn this syre Vrre knyghte of Hongry and sir Alphegus of spayne encountred to gyders for veray enuy / and soo eyther vndertook other to the Vtteraunce.\n\"So it happened in Spain there was an earl’s son, his name was Alphegus, and at a great tournament in Spain this Sir Urre, knight of Hungary, and Sir Alphegus of Spain encountered together for very envy; and so either undertook other to the utterance.\"",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To engage with; to attack, take on in a fight."
],
"id": "en-undertaken-enm-verb-mmW1zGwD",
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"take on",
"take on"
]
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"text": "[…] therfore, for Cristes sake,\nKepeth wel tho that ye undertake.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To have or take charge of."
],
"id": "en-undertaken-enm-verb-pNIh22e-"
}
],
"word": "undertaken"
}
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"ref": "1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “(please specify the story)”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, lines 289-291:",
"text": "As leene was his hors as is a rake,\nAnd he nas nat right fat, I undertake,\nBut looked holwe and therto sobrely.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
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"To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say."
],
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"pledge"
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"ref": "1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xxxvij”, in Le Morte Darthur, book IX:",
"text": "there came fourty knyghtes to sire Darras\n[…]\n and they wold haue slayne sire Tristram and his two felawes\n but sire Darras wold not suffre that but kepte them in pryson\n[…]\n So sire Tristram endured there grete payne\n for sekenesse had vndertake hym\n and that is the grettest payne a prysoner maye haue",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon."
],
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"trickery",
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],
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"ref": "1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XIX, Chapter x, leaf 394v:",
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"type": "quote"
}
],
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"To engage with; to attack, take on in a fight."
],
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"take on",
"take on"
]
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{
"ref": "1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Doctour of Physyckes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC, lines 81-82:",
"text": "[…] therfore, for Cristes sake,\nKepeth wel tho that ye undertake.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To have or take charge of."
]
}
],
"word": "undertaken"
}
Download raw JSONL data for undertaken meaning in Middle English (4.1kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-25 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-20 using wiktextract (c15a5ce and 5c11237). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.