different between undertake vs acknowledge

English

Alternative forms

• undirtake (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English undertaken; equivalent to under- +? take (after undernim).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?nd??te?k/
• Rhymes: -e?k

Verb

undertake (third-person singular simple present undertakes, present participle undertaking, simple past undertook, past participle undertaken)

1. (transitive) To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).
   • 1674, John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book 2, lines 417-420,^[1]

     This said, he sat; and expectation held
     His look suspense, awaiting who appeared
     To second, or oppose, or undertake
     The perilous attempt.

2. (intransitive) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
   • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act III, Scene 3,^[2]

     […] if King Lewis vouchsafe to furnish us
     With some few bands of chosen soldiers,
     I’ll undertake to land them on our coast
     And force the tyrant from his seat by war.

3. (informal) To pass a slower moving vehicle on the curbside rather than on the side closest to oncoming traffic.

   Antonym: overtake

4. (archaic, intransitive) To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say.
   • c. 1390s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, General Prologue, lines 289-291,^[3]

     As leene was his hors as is a rake,
     And he nas nat right fat, I undertake,
     But looked holwe and therto sobrely.

   • c. 1591, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 1, Act V, Scene 3,^[4]

     That is her ransom; I deliver her;
     And those two counties I will undertake
     Your grace shall well and quietly enjoy.

   • 1695, John Woodward, An Essay towards a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies, London: Richard Wilkin, Part 4, pp. 222-223,^[5]

     […] if those Persons who are curious in collecting either Minerals, or the Shells, Teeth, or other Parts of Animal Bodies that have been buried in the Earth, do but search the Hills after Rains, and the Sea-Shores after Storms, I dare undertake they will not lose their Labour.

5. (obsolete, transitive) To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.
6. (obsolete) To assume, as a character; to take on.
   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act I, Scene 2,^[6]

     Quince. […] you must needs play Pyramus.
     Bottom. Well, I will undertake it.

7. (obsolete) To engage with; to attack, take on in a fight.
   • c. 1609, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act II, Scene 1,^[7]

     It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offence to.

8. (obsolete) To have knowledge of; to hear.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 5, Canto 3, Stanza 34, London: George Allen, 1896, p. 1098,^[8]

     Ne he his mouth would open unto wight,
     Untill that Guyon selfe unto him spake,
     And called Brigadore, (so was he hight,)
     Whose voice so soone as he did undertake,
     Eftsoones he stood as still as any stake,

9. (obsolete) To have or take charge of.
   • c. 1390s, Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, The Physician’s Tale, lines 81-82, The Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, Bell & Daldy, 1866, Volume 3, p. 78,^[9]

     […] therfore, for Cristes sake,
     Kepeth wel tho that ye undertake.

   • c. 1612, William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, Henry VIII, Act II, Scene 1,^[10]

     To the water side I must conduct your grace;
     Then give my charge up to Sir Nicholas Vaux,
     Who undertakes you to your end.

Usage notes

• Sense: To commit oneself. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive.
• See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Derived terms

• undertaker
• undertaking

Translations

English

Alternative forms

• acknowledg (obsolete)
• acknowelege (obsolete)

Etymology

Recorded since 1553, a blend of Middle English knowlechen (“to discover, reveal, acknowledge”) and aknowen (“to recognize, acknowledge”); the latter from Old English oncn?wan, ?cn?wan (“to know, recognize, acknowledge”), from on + cn?wan (“to know”). Notice the preservation of /k/ word-internally (regularly spelled with ck as in back) while being lost word-initially. The prefix might have been influenced by Anglo-Norman a- (“on-, to-”). See knowledge.

For the formation compare Latin agn?sc? and Russian ????????? (priznát?), with cognate roots.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k?n?.l?d?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /æk?n??.l?d?/, [?k?n??l?d?], [?k?n??l?d?], [???n??l?d?], [???n??l?d?]
• Hyphenation US: ac?knowl?edge, UK: ac?know?ledge

Verb

acknowledge (third-person singular simple present acknowledges, present participle acknowledging, simple past and past participle acknowledged)

1. (transitive) To admit the knowledge of; to recognize as a fact or truth; to declare one's belief in
   • 1611, King James Version, Psalm 51:3

     I acknowledge my transgressions.

   • 1849, Thomas Macaulay, The History of England from the Accession of James II, Chapter 1

     For ends generally acknowledged to be good.
2. To own or recognize in a particular quality, character or relationship; to admit the claims or authority of; to give recognition to.
   • 1611, King James Version, Proverbs 3:6

     In all thy ways acknowledge Him.

   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, III-v

     By my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee.

3. To be grateful of (e.g. a benefit or a favour)
4. To report (the receipt of a message to its sender).

5. To own as genuine or valid; to assent to (a legal instrument) to give it validity; to avow or admit in legal form.

Usage notes

• Acknowledge is opposed to keep back, or conceal, and supposes that something had been previously known to us (though perhaps not to others) which we now feel bound to lay open or make public. Thus, a man acknowledges a secret marriage; one who has done wrong acknowledges his fault; and author acknowledges his obligation to those who have aided him; we acknowledge our ignorance.
• Recognize supposes that we have either forgotten or not had the evidence of a thing distinctly before our minds, but that now we know it (as it were) anew, or receive and admit it on the grounds of the evidence it brings. Thus, we recognize a friend after a long absence. We recognize facts, principles, truths, etc., when their evidence is brought up fresh to the mind. A foreign minister, consul, or agent, of any kind, is recognized on the ground of his producing satisfactory credentials.
• See also confess

Synonyms

• avow, proclaim, recognize, own, admit, allow, concede, confess

Derived terms

Related terms

• acknowledgment

Translations

References

• acknowledge in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.