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▪ I. ˈundertaking, vbl. n.
(Also ˌunderˈtaking.)
[f. as prec. + -ing1.]
1.
†a. Enterprise, energy. Obs.
1375Barbour Bruce ix. 484 Bot he wes outrageous hardy, And of so hye vndirtaking, That he neuir had none abasing Of multitude of men. c1400tr. Secreta Secret., Gov. Lordsh. 111 Þe Persiens & þe Turkeys..er right coraious men, and of gret vndertakynge.
b. An action, work, etc., undertaken or attempted; an enterprise.
c1425Wyntoun Cron. viii. 3138 Þat þai brocht sone till ending Be sum tressonable vndirtaking. 1598Florio, Suscettione, an enterprise, a taking of a thing in hand, an vndertaking. 1602Shakes. Ham. ii. i. 104 This is the very extasie of Loue, Whose violent property..leads the will to desperate Vndertakings. 1647Clarendon Hist. Reb. i. §23 He did not upon the Suddain comprehend the consequences, which would naturally attend such a rash undertaking. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 3 Disastrous Periods have ended their Undertakings. 1707Mortimer Husb. 148 The Farmer is to consider..the Cost and Charges of such a Stock: that so he may suit his Undertaking to his Purse. 1780S. J. Pratt Emma Corbett (ed. 4) I. 196, I am engaged in a very unthrifty undertaking. 1809Coleridge Friend (1865) 8 In the preceding number I named the present under⁓taking an experiment. 1841W. Spalding Italy & It. Isl. I. 383 Not unfit preparatives for such extravagant under⁓takings. 1880L. Stephen Pope iii. 62 Both sides took a pride in supporting the great literary undertaking which he [sc. Pope] had now announced.
c. The action of taking in hand.
1600Hakluyt Voy. III. 185 They, who..are well able to spare that which is required of each one towardes the vndertaking of this aduenture. 1634W. Tirwhyt tr. Balzac's Lett. 108 The time of the yeare being as yet some⁓what troublesome, for the undertaking thereof, you will rather reserve it. 1640Bp. Hall Episc. Ep. Ded. 2 I sate downe, and waited for the undertaking of some abler pen.
d. spec. The business or occupation of a funeral undertaker. Also attrib.
1843Dickens Mart. Chuz. (1844) v. 52 There's other businesses. Undertaking, now. That's gloomy. 1850Thackeray Pendennis xlvii, So Pen..asked about the undertaking business and how many mutes went down with Lady Estrich's remains. 1862Macm. Mag. June 150 In the way of business..nothing seems stirring, except it be the undertaking trade.
†2.
a. The action of lifting up; support. Obs.
1382Wyclif Ps. cvii. 9 Myn is Manasses; and Effraym the vndertaking [L. susceptio] of myn hed.
†b. Reproof, rebuke. Obs.
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode i. iv. (1869) 3 Bi whiche cloumben wel swiftliche in to þilke citee þilke þat weren of hise folke,..with oute vndertakinge of any. c1440Promp. Parv. 461/2 Synbbynge, or vndyrtakynge, deprehencio.
3. A pledge or promise; a guarantee or surety.
a1400Morte Arth. 3187 Of this vndyrtakynge ostage are comyne. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. i. v. (1852) 75 All who dare not submit their children to be baptized by the undertaking of god-fathers. c1800Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. (1814) 338 ‘Give an Undertaking,’ i.e. a Security. 1848Thackeray Van. Fair lxiv, Three hundred pounds a year, which he proposed to pay to her on an undertaking that she would never trouble him. 1879M. Pattison Milton 91 In each successive pamphlet he reiterates his undertaking to redeem his pledge of a great work.
▪ II. ˈundertaking, ppl. a. Now rare.
[f. as prec. + -ing2.]
†1. Ready to undertake an enterprise, task, etc., esp. one involving some danger or risk; enterprising, bold. Obs.
a1400Morte Arth. 2723 In ȝone okene wode an oste are arrayede, Vndir-takande mene of thiese owte londes. c1410Master of Game (MS. Bodl. 546) Prol., Men ben bettre rydyng,..and more vndirtakynge, and bettir knowynge of alle contreys and of alle passages. 1456Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 60 His men war bathe wys, and hardy, and undertakand. 1614Raleigh Hist. World v. iii. §12. 486 A thousand men, vnder..an vndertaking and expert Captaine. 1655Fuller Ch. Hist. ix. iii. §41 Rome..entertaining, and rewarding him as a man of a daring, and undertaking spirit. 1671tr. Palafox's Conq. China xiii. 261 The General, who was very ambitious, undertaking, and successful. 1713Steele Englishm. No. 24. 157 Daring and undertaking Fellows have ever been the Darlings of the Populace.
transf.1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iii. Hh iij b, Inventions, merry conceites, vndertaking enterprises, sports [etc.].
†b. ? Engaged in literary work. (Cf. undertaker 6 c.) Obs.
1761Sterne Tr. Shandy iv. xx, See!—if he has not galloped full among the scaffolding of the undertaking critics!
†c. Prepared to act as publishers. Obs.
1822Scott Nigel Introd. Epist., Their power of annoying the public will be soon limited by the difficulty of finding undertaking booksellers.
2. Pledged, bound by promise.
1786A. Gib Sacred Contemplations i. ii. i. 85 For these he became an undertaking Surety as their Covenant-head.
Hence ˈunderˌtakingly adv., responsibly.
1665J. Sergeant Sure Footing 39 What Certainty can we undertakingly promise to weaker heads, that is, to the Generality of Mankind? |