tempt

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /tɛmpt/, /tɛmt/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛmpt, -ɛmt

Verb

tempt (third-person singular simple present tempts, present participle tempting, simple past and past participle tempted)

1. (transitive) To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice.

   Synonyms: entice, fand, lure, pander, tease

   She tempted me to eat the apple.

   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene i, page 2:

     By Heav’ns, ſuch Virtues, join’d with ſuch Succeſs,
     Diſtract my very Soul: Our Father’s Fortune
     Wou’d almoſt tempt us to renounce his Precepts.

   • 1994, Claire A. Culleton, Names and Naming in Joyce:

     Eveline Hill, the protagonist of the Dubliners story "Eveline," for example, successfully extricates herself from the confines of her "Eve" name since, like her nameling in the Garden of Eden who was tempted by promises of knowledge, Eveline, too, is tempted: […]

2. (transitive) To attract; to allure.

   Synonyms: beguile, entrance; see also Thesaurus:allure

   Its glossy skin tempted me.

   • 2008, Popular Mechanics, How to Tempt a Fish: A Complete Guide to Fishing, page 20:

     The next time you are trout fishing and none of your lures tempts the fish, smoke a spoon hook and cast it.

3. (transitive) To provoke something; to court.

   Synonyms: foment, urge; see also Thesaurus:incite

   It would be tempting fate.

Derived terms

• temptation
• tempter
• tempt fate
• temptful
• temptless
• temptly
• tempt providence
• temptress
• temptsome
• temptuous

Translations

to provoke someone to do wrong

Albanian: tundoj (sq) Arabic: أَغْوَى (ʔaḡwā), أَغْرَى (ʔaḡrā) Armenian: please add this translation if you can Asturian: tentar Bulgarian: изкушавам (bg) (izkušavam) Catalan: temptar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: friste Dutch: verleiden (nl) Esperanto: tenti (eo) Finnish: vietellä (fi), viekoitella (fi) French: tenter (fr) Friulian: tentâ Galician: tentar (gl) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: in Versuchung führen, versuchen (de) Greek: Ancient: πειράζω (peirázō) Hebrew: פיתה (he) (pitá), גירה (he) (gerá) Hungarian: kísért (hu), megkísért (hu) Icelandic: please add this translation if you can Italian: tentare (it) Japanese: 誘惑する (ゆうわく-する, yūwaku-suru) Kapampangan: tuksu Korean: please add this translation if you can Latin: tentō Latvian: kārdināt Macedonian: соблазни (soblazni) Norwegian: friste Plautdietsch: vesieekjen Polish: kusić (pl) Portuguese: tentar (pt) Romanian: tenta (ro) Russian: склоня́ть (ru) impf (sklonjátʹ), склони́ть (ru) pf (sklonítʹ), увещева́ть (ru) impf (uveščevátʹ), подбива́ть (ru) impf (podbivátʹ), подби́ть (ru) pf (podbítʹ) Sardinian: tenteare Scottish Gaelic: buair Spanish: tentar (es), acodiciar (es), acudiciar (es) (disused) Tagalog: tuksuhin Telugu: ప్రేరేపించు (te) (prērēpiñcu) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: ayartmak (tr), baştan çıkarmak (tr), kanına girmek Tuvaluan: fakaosooso Ukrainian: схиляти, змушувати (sxyljaty, zmušuvaty) Venetan: tantar Vietnamese: xui (vi), xúi, xúi giục (vi) Volapük: blufodön (vo)

to attract, allure

Arabic: أَغْرَى (ʔaḡrā) Bulgarian: съблазнявам (bg) (sǎblaznjavam) Catalan: temptar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 吸引 (zh) (xīyǐn), 誘惑 / 诱惑 (zh) (yòuhuò) Danish: lokke Dutch: lokken (nl), verlokken (nl) Esperanto: tenti (eo) Finnish: houkuttaa (fi) French: attirer (fr) German: locken (de) Hungarian: csábít (hu), csalogat (hu) Italian: tentare (it) Latvian: kārdināt Maori: whakapoapoa Norwegian: friste Polish: nęcić (pl) impf Portuguese: tentar (pt) Romanian: ispiti (ro) Russian: соблазня́ть (ru) impf (soblaznjátʹ), соблазни́ть (ru) pf (soblaznítʹ), искуша́ть (ru) impf (iskušátʹ), искуси́ть (ru) pf (iskusítʹ), прельща́ть (ru) impf (prelʹščátʹ), прельсти́ть (ru) pf (prelʹstítʹ) Scottish Gaelic: buair Spanish: tentar (es), acodiciar (es), acudiciar (es) (disused) Telugu: ఎర వేయు (era vēyu) Turkish: cezbetmek (tr) Ukrainian: спокуша́ти (spokušáty), прива́блювати (pryvábljuvaty) Volapük: bätön (vo)

to provoke

Bulgarian: провокирам (bg) (provokiram) Catalan: temptar (ca) Dutch: uitlokken (nl) Finnish: härnätä (fi) Hungarian: kísért (hu), kihív (hu) Polish: judzić (pl) impf, podjudzić pf Russian: провоци́ровать (ru) impf (provocírovatʹ), спровоци́ровать (ru) pf (sprovocírovatʹ) Scottish Gaelic: buair Telugu: రెచ్చగొట్టు (te) (reccagoṭṭu) Turkish: kışkırtmak (tr)

Further reading

• “tempt”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “tempt”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “tempt”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Latvian

Verb

tempt (transitive, 1st conjugation, present tempju, temp, tempj, past tempu)

1. to gulp
2. to swill
3. to quaff

Conjugation

Conjugation of tempt (1st)

	indicative (īstenības izteiksme)					imperative (pavēles izteiksme)
		present (tagadne)	past (pagātne)		future (nākotne)
1st person sg	es	tempju	tempu		tempšu	—
2nd person sg	tu	temp	tempi		tempsi	temp
3rd person sg	viņš, viņa	tempj	tempa		temps	lai tempj
1st person pl	mēs	tempjam	tempām		tempsim	tempsim
2nd person pl	jūs	tempjat	tempāt		tempsiet, tempsit	tempiet
3rd person pl	viņi, viņas	tempj	tempa		temps	lai tempj
renarrative (atstāstījuma izteiksme)				participles (divdabji)
present	tempjot			present active 1 (adj.)		tempjošs
past	esot tempis			present active 2 (adv.)		tempdams
future	tempšot			present active 3 (adv.)		tempjot
imperative	lai tempjot			present active 4 (obj.)		tempjam
conditional (vēlējuma izteiksme)				past active		tempis
present	temptu			present passive		—
past	būtu tempis			past passive		—
debitive (vajadzības izteiksme)				nominal forms
indicative	(būt) jātempj			infinitive (nenoteiksme)		tempt
conjunctive 1	esot jātempj			negative infinitive		netempt
conjunctive 2	jātempjot			verbal noun		tempšana