tempt
/tɛmpt/ verb
Forms tempts tempting tempted
- verb (transitive) To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice. “She tempted me to eat the apple.”
- verb (transitive) To attract; to allure. “Its glossy skin tempted me.”
- verb (transitive) To provoke something; to court. “It would be tempting fate.”
Synonyms
entice lure pander tease beguile entrance allure arrest attract becharm bewitch beckon captivate charm court delight draw effascinate enchant engage invite influence
Etymology
From Middle English tempten, from Old French tempter (French: tenter), from Latin temptare, from tentare (“to handle, touch, try, test, tempt”), frequentative of tendere (“to stretch”). Displaced native English costning (“temptation”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To put to trial; to prove; to test; to try. God did tempt Abraham. Gen. xxii. 1.
- verb To lead, or endeavor to lead, into evil; to entice to what is wrong; to seduce.
Etymology [OE. tempten, tenten, from OF. tempter, tenter, F. tenter, fr. L. tentare, temptare, to handle, feel, attack, to try, put to the test, urge, freq. from tendere, tentum, and tensum, to stretch. See Thin, and cf. Attempt, Tend, Taunt, Tent a pavilion, Tent to probe.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tempt”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details