# taken

Pronunciation: US say "TAY-kuhn" /ˈteɪ.kn̩/; UK

## Verb

1. Past participle of take. — past participle of take
   - Simple: Past participle of take. Use it after has, have, had, is, was or were.
   - _The committee has taken steps to address the complaints._
   - _These photographs were taken during last summer's trip._

## Adjective

2. Already committed to a serious romantic relationship and therefore not available to other partners. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Already in a serious romantic relationship with someone, so not available to date.
   - _She mentioned she was taken, so he never made a move._
   - _Half the people at the reunion turned out to be taken._
3. Strongly attracted to, fond of, or charmed by someone or something.
   - Simple: Strongly attracted to someone or something, or really liking them.
   - _She was quite taken with the little cottage by the sea._
   - _He seemed taken with her wit from the moment they met._

## Origin

From Middle English taken, from Old English tacen and Old Norse tekinn, going back to Proto-Germanic *tēkanaz, the past participle of *tēkaną ("to take, grasp, touch"). It is related to Scots takin, Danish tagen, Swedish tagen, and Icelandic tekin, and is formed from take + -n.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/taken (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).