"to take, to steal" (archaic), Old English niman "to take, accept, receive, grasp, catch" (cognates: Old Frisian nima, Middle Dutch nemen, German nehmen, Gothic niman; see nimble). The native word, replaced by Scandinavian-derived take, v. and out of use from c.1500 except in slang sense of "to steal," which endured into 19c.