What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Warrant vs Undertake - What's the difference?

warrant | undertake |

In obsolete terms the difference between warrant and undertake

is that warrant is a protector or defender while undertake is to have or take charge of.

In obsolete transitive terms the difference between warrant and undertake

is that warrant is to give (someone) a guarantee or assurance (of something); also, with double object, to guarantee (someone something) while undertake is to take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.

In transitive terms the difference between warrant and undertake

is that warrant is to justify; to give grounds for while undertake is to take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).

As a noun warrant

is a protector or defender.

warrant

English

Alternative forms

* warraunt (obsolete)

Etymology 1

From (etyl), (warant), (warand) ( = (etyl) guarant > modern (garant)), present participle of a Romance verb from (etyl) *(term).

Noun

(en noun)
  • (label) A protector or defender.
  • *:
  • *:And whanne I sawe her makynge suche dole / I asked her who slewe her lorde ¶ Syre she said the falsest knyght of the world now lyuyng/ and his name is sir Breuse saunce pyte / thenne for pyte I made the damoysel to lepe on her palfroy / and I promysed her to be her waraunt / and to helpe her to entyere her lord
  • Authorization or certification; sanction, as given by a superior.
  • Something that provides assurance or confirmation; a guarantee or proof: a warrant of authenticity; a warrant for success.
  • *Garry Wills:
  • *:He almost gives his failings as a warrant for his greatness.
  • An order that serves as authorization, especially: A voucher authorizing payment or receipt of money.
  • (label) A judicial writ authorizing an officer to make a search, seizure, or arrest or to execute a judgment.
  • :
  • A warrant officer.
  • #A certificate of appointment given to a warrant officer.
  • (label) An option, usually with a term at issue greater than a year, usually issued together with another security, to buy other securities of the issuer.
  • (label) A Warrant of Fitness; a document certifying that a motor vehicle meets certain standards of safety and mechanical soundness.
  • Derived terms
    * warrant card * death warrant

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl), (warantir), (warandir) ( = (etyl) guarantir > modern (garantir)), a Romance formation from the noun, Etymology 1, above.

    Verb

  • To protect, keep safe (from danger).
  • *, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.44:
  • *:all honest meanes for a man to warrant himselfe from evils are not onely tolerable, but commendable.
  • (label) To guarantee (something) to be (of a specified quality, value etc.).
  • *1851 , Herman Melville, Moby-Dick :
  • *:His pure tight skin was an excellent fit; and closely wrapped up in it, and embalmed with inner health and strength, like a revivified Egyptian, this Starbuck seemed prepared to endure for long ages to come, and to endure always, as now; for be it Polar snow or torrid sun, like a patent chronometer, his interior vitality was warranted to do well in all climates.
  • *
  • *:Thus the red damask curtains which now shut out the fog-laden, drizzling atmosphere of the Marylebone Road, had cost a mere song, and yet they might have been warranted to last another thirty years. A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor;.
  • (label) To guarantee as being true; (colloquially) to believe strongly.
  • :
  • To give (someone) a guarantee or assurance (of something); also, with double object, to guarantee (someone something).
  • *, II.ii.1.1:
  • *:Crato, in a consultation of his for a noble patient, tells him plainly, that if his highness will keep but a good diet, he will warrant him his former health.
  • (label) To authorize; to give (someone) warrant or sanction (to do something).
  • :
  • (label) To justify; to give grounds for.
  • :
  • undertake

    English

    Verb

  • (label) To take upon oneself; to start, to embark on (a specific task etc.).
  • *(John Milton) (1608-1674)
  • *:To second, or oppose, or undertake / The perilous attempt.
  • (label) To commit oneself (to an obligation, activity etc.).
  • :
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:I'll undertake to land them on our coast.
  • (label) To overtake on the wrong side.
  • :
  • To pledge; to assert, assure; to dare say.
  • *, Bk.VII:
  • *:"I have now aspyed one knyght," he seyde, "that woll play hys play at the justys, I undirtake ."
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:And those two counties I will undertake / Your grace shall well and quietly enjoiy.
  • *(John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • *:And he was not right fat, I undertake .
  • * (1665-1728)
  • *:I dare undertake they will not lose their labour.
  • To take by trickery; to trap, to seize upon.
  • *:
  • *:there came fourty knyghtes to sire Darras // So sire Tristram endured there grete payne / for sekenesse had vndertake hym / and that is the grettest payne a prysoner maye haue
  • (label) To assume, as a character; to take on.
  • :(Shakespeare)
  • (label) To engage with; to attack.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:It is not fit your lordship should undertake every companion that you give offence to.
  • (label) To have knowledge of; to hear.
  • :(Spenser)
  • (label) To have or take charge of.
  • *(Geoffrey Chaucer) (c.1343-1400)
  • *:Keep well those that ye undertake .
  • *(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
  • *:who undertakes you to your end
  • Usage notes

    * Sense: To commit oneself. This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. * See

    Derived terms

    * undertaker * undertaking