The orig. sense of the word is two-fold, one (more active) to take, and the other (more passive) to receive
I.to take:
1.to take hold of, grasp, seize, Hom., etc.; the part seized in gen., the whole in acc., τὴν πτέρυγος λάβεν caught her by the wing, Il.; γούνων λάβε κούρην Od., etc.:—then, with gen. of part only, ποδῶν, γούνων, κόρυθος λάβεν took hold of the feet, etc., Il.
2.to take by violence, seize, carry off as prize or booty, Hom.
4.of passions, feelings, etc., to seize, Hom., etc.; of fever and sudden illnesses, to attack, Hdt., attic
5.of a deity, to seize, possess, τινά Hdt.: of darkness, and the like, to occupy, possess, Aesch.
6.to catch, come upon, overtake, as an enemy, Hom., Hdt.: to catch, find, come upon, λ. τινὰ μοῦνον Hdt., etc.: also, to catch, find out, detect, Lat. deprehendo, id=Hdt.: so Pass., ἐπ᾽ αὐτοφώρωι εἰλημμένος caught in the act, Ar.
8.to take as an assistant, Soph.
11.to apprehend by the senses, Soph., Plat.:— to seize with the mind, apprehend, comprehend, Hdt., etc.:— to take, i. e. understand, a thing so and so, e. g. a passage of an author, Lat. accipere, Hdt., Thuc., etc.
12.to take in hand, undertake, Hdt.
II.to receive:
1.to have given one, to get, gain, win, Hom., etc.:—also in bad sense, λ. ὄνειδος Soph.; θάνατον Eur., etc.
2.to receive in marriage, Hdt., Xen.
3.λ. δίκην to receive, i. e. suffer, punishment, as we say, to catch it, Lat. dare poenas, Hdt., Eur.: —an unusual sense, v. supr. I. 2.
5.to conceive, Aesch.
6.to receive as produce or profit, Ar., Plat.; to purchase Ar.
7.to admit of, Pind.
8.of persons subject to feelings, passions, and the like, λ. θυμόν to take heart, Od.; so, periphr., λ. φόβον ῀ φοβεῖσθαι, Soph., etc.; so, λ. ὕψος ῀ ὑψοῦσθαι, Thuc.; λ. νόσον (as we say) "to take a cold, " Plat.; so, αἱ οἰκίαι ἐπάλξεις λαμβάνουσαι receiving battlements, having battlements added, Thuc.
B.Mid. to take hold of, lay hold on, c. gen., σχεδίης Od., Hdt., etc.
