Tempt v.

Forms: 3– tempt, 3–7 temt, 4–6 (Sc. –9) temp. [a. OF. and AF. tempte-r (12–14th c.), learned form, beside the popular form tenter, tanter:—L. temptāre, temtāre to handle, touch, feel, try the strength of, put to the test, try, attempt: cf. Pr. temptar, Cat., Sp., Pg. tentar, It. tentare. The Eng. form has always followed L. tem(p)tare, the form tent being very rare (see TENT v.²); but the sb. temptation had from 13th c. the collateral form tentation, which during the 16th and 17th c. was much used by theological writers.

  In inscriptions and early MSS., the Latin vb. is always tempt- or temtāre; this became in due course tentāre in Romanic (see above, and cf. promptus, pronto, etc.); about the 13th c. scribes began to introduce this spelling in Latin MSS., whence it came into printed books and Latin Dicts., being supported by an assumed etymology as freq. of tendĕre, tentum to stretch, strive, aim, endeavor, try (meeting at length with sense 3 below); but this is now rejected in favor of a root tem-, temp-: see Walde, Lat. Etym. Wörterbuch, s.v. tempto.

  Sense 4, a later development in L., common in the Vulgate and Christian use, is the earliest recorded in Eng.]

  I.  To test, put to the test, try.

  † 1.  To try, make trial of, put to the test or proof; to try the quality, worth, or truth of. Obs. exc. as in 2.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 5030. Lauerd … þat … tempted abraham þi dere Of his aun sun offrand to mak.

1382.  Wyclif, Gen. xxii. 1. Aftyr that thes thingis weren doon, God temptide [1383 assaiede] Abraham [1535 Coverd. ibid., After these actes God tempted Abraham; 1611 Bible, ibid., It came to pass after these things, that God did tempt [1885 (R.V.) prove] Abraham]. Ibid. (1382), Dan. i. 12. Tempte [gloss or assaie; 1535 Coverd. Proue with; 1611, 1885 Prove] vs fhi seruauntis ten days, and be potage ȝouen to vs for to ete.

c. 1386.  Chaucer, Clerk’s T., 402. He hadde assayed hire ynogh bifore … what neded it Hire for to tempte and alwey moore and moore?

1390.  Gower, Conf., III. 45. With questions echon of tho He tempteth ofte.

1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 73/1. The quene of Saba cam fro fer contreys to see hym & to tempte hym in demaundes and questyons.

1538.  Starkey, England, II. i. 176. To haue some [sick persons] to go aboute … to proue and tempt theyr louyng charyte.

16[?].  Sir W. Mure, Sonn., iii. 6. To try my treuth and temp my loyall loue.

a. 1644.  Quarles, Hieroglyph., xiii. Wks. 1881, III. 195. Tempt not your Salt beyond her power.

  † b.  transf. To act upon as a ‘trial’ or severe test; to try with afflictions; to afflict sorely, distress. Cf. ATTEMPT v. 4. Obs. rare.

13[?].  E. E. Allit. P., B. 283. Felle temptande tene towched his hert.

1483.  Caxton, Gold. Leg., 152 b/2. And thise xvii first yere I was moche tempted by the brennyng of the sonne moche asprely.

  2.  To make trial of, put to the proof, or test, in a way that involves risk or peril.

  a.  To tempt God: to put to the test, or experiment presumptuously upon, His power, forbearance, etc.; to try how far one can go with Him; hence sometimes passing into ‘to provoke, defy.’ So to tempt providence, etc.

a. 1340.  Hampole, Psalter lxxvii. 21. Þai tempte god þat puttis þaim selfe in any perill forto fande if god will delyuer þaim.

1382.  Wyclif, Deut. vi. 16. Thow shalt not tempte the Lord thi God, as thow hast temptid in the place of temptynge.

1390.  Gower, Conf., III. 43. He tempteth hevene and erthe and helle.

1533.  Gau, Richt Vay (S.T.S.), 12. Thay sine alsua aganis this command that tempis god.

1552.  Huloet, Tempt or prouoke, pellitio, tento, temto, verso.

1611.  Bible, Acts v. 9. How is it that yee have agreed together, to tempt the Spirit of the Lord?

1714.  Swift, Pres. St. Affairs, ¶ 22. Religion teacheth us, that providence ought not to be tempted.

1715–20.  Pope, Iliad, V. 44. Nor tempt the wrath of Heav’ns avenging Sire.

1873.  Mrs. Oliphant, Zaidee, III. v. 41. For mercy’s sake do not frighten us out of the house with your spirits and your raps! Are you not afraid to tempt Providence?

  b.  In to tempt fate, fortune, etc., the sense approaches a.

1603.  Knolles, Hist. Turks (1621), 119. Who thus overthrowne, resolved no more to tempt fortune.

1693.  Creech, in Dryden’s Juvenal, xiii. (1697), 339. Thy Perjur’d Friend will quickly tempt his Fate.

1746.  Francis, trans. Hor., Epist., I. i. 9. Wisely resolv’d to tempt his Fate no more.

1867.  Mrs. Chapman Coleman, trans. Mühlback’s Fredr. Gt., II. i. 135. We will not tempt fate with this trial, but seek another way out of our difficulty.

  c.  To tempt (the storm, flood, sea, etc.): to adventure oneself in or upon; to risk the perils of. (Cf. ATTEMPT v. 2.) Chiefly poet. Also to tempt the worst, tempt reprisals, etc.

1667.  Milton, P. L., II. 404. Who shall tempt with wandring feet The dark unbottom’d infinite Abyss?

1697.  Dryden, Virg. Georg., III. 123. The first to lead the Way, to tempt the Flood. Ibid., 581. Nor tempt th’ inclemency of Heav’n abroad.

1703.  Rowe, Ulyss., IV. i. Know’st thou what ’tis to tempt a Rage like mine?

1704.  Pope, Windsor For., 389. Tempt icy seas, where scarce the waters roll.

1797.  Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, i. I will tempt the worst at once.

1835.  J. P. Kennedy, Horse Shoe R., lii. [They] preferred to tempt the rigors of the mountain rather than remain in their own dwellings.

1840.  J. F. Cooper, Legend of the Whirlpool, II. xxxv.

  † 3.  To try, endeavor, essay: with inf. (to do something), or equiv. clause; = ATTEMPT v. 1.

  Sometimes aphetic for ATTEMPT.

c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xxii. (Laurentius) 697. Þe feynd, þat ay wil besy be to tempt þat þame twa had Inwy.

1382.  Wyclif, 2 Macc. ii. 24. So we temptiden, or assayeden, for to abregge in to oo boke, thingus comprehendid … in fyue bookis. Ibid., Acts xvi. 7. Whanne thei camen into Misye, thei temptiden [Coverd. proved, 1611 assayed] for to go into Bithinie.

1494.  Fabyan, Chron., V. cxiv. 88. Whan Chilperich had temptyd by many sondrye means to haue theym out of the sayde preuylege.

1538.  Starkey, England, I. i. 21. Yet in some tyme and certayn place hyt ys not to be temptyd of wyse men [to meddyl wyth materys perteynyng to the wele of hys hole cuntrey].

  b.  with simple object. To attempt, to try.

1697.  Dryden, Æneid, VI. 214. Ere leave be giv’n to tempt the nether skies.

[1730.  Swift, Panegyrick on Dean, 324. In vain I ’tempt too high a flight.]

  † c.  To make an attempt upon, to try to obtain; to assail. (Aphetic for ATTEMPT.) Obs.

a. 1721.  Prior, Henry & Emma, 518. O wretched maid! Whose roving fancy would resolve the same With him, who next should tempt her easy fame.

1746.  Francis, trans. Hor., Epist., I. xviii. 127. Be not by foolish Love betray’d To tempt your Patron’s favourite Maid.

  II.  To try to attract, allure, incite, induce.

  4.  trans. To try to attract, to entice (a person) to do evil; to present attractions to the passions or frailties of; to allure or incite to evil with the prospect of some pleasure or advantage. Const. to something, to do something. Also absol. (The earliest use in Eng.)

a. 1225.  Ancr. R., 60. Tauh ne rouhte heo neuer þauh he þouhte toward hire, & were of hire itempted [MS. Cott. ifondet]. Ibid., 226. Strongliche was he itemted er he so ueolle.

a. 1300.  Cursor M., 15654 (Cott.). Rises vp, and wakes wel, Ar yee tempted [Gött. tempid] be.

a. 1340.  Hampole, Psalter, lv. 1. Þe deuel, þat neuyre styntis to temp þi seruauntis.

c. 1380.  Wyclif, Sel. Wks., III. 107. To praye þat we be nouȝt ytempted of þe fende.

c. 1440.  Alphabet of Tales, 127. Ane vnwyse confessur began to tempe hur vnto syn.

c. 1450.  Cov. Myst., xxv. (Shaks. Soc.), 240. Thryes I tempte hym … Aftyr he fast fourty days.

1500–20.  Dunbar, Poems, xxxiv. 2. Me thocht the Devill wes tempand last The peple.

1530.  Palsgr., 754/1. He hath tempted me … to go a thevynge with hym.

1548.  Udall, Erasm. Par. Luke iii. 48 b. Adam also was tempted, and ouercomed: Christe beeyng tempted, ouercame the temptour.

1606.  Shaks., Tr. & Cr., IV. iv. 93.

1665.  Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Warres, 317. Then they tempted the Fidelity of Caspar Ensem the Governour, both by Rewards and Terrour, but he was resolv’d against both.

1667.  Milton, P. L., IX. 296. For hee who tempts, though in vain, at least asperses The tempted with dishonour foul.

1706.  Phillips (ed, Kersey), To Tempt, to allure or entice, to egg on or set a-gog, to induce to Evil.

1852.  Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xix. Only when I’ve been very much tempted.

1869.  Spurgeon, J. Ploughm. Talk, 9. Idle men tempt the devil to tempt them.

  b.  To try to draw (a person) to contradict, confute, or commit himself. arch. (In N.T. versions, repr. Vulg. tem(p)tare, Gr. πειράζειν.)

1382.  Wyclif, Matt. xxii. 35. Oon of hem, a techer of the lawe, axede Jhesus, temptynge hym, Maistre, whiche is a greet maundement in the lawe? Ibid., John viii. 6 Sothli thei seiden this thing temptinge him, that thei myȝten accuse him. Ibid., Mark xii. 15. What tempten ȝe me? brynge ȝe to me a peny, that I se.

1526.  Tindale, ibid. Why tempte ye me? Brynge me a peny, that I maye se yt. [So 1611 and R. V. 1881.]

  5.  To attract or incite to some action or to do something; to allure, entice, invite, attract; to dispose, incline. Sometimes, contextually, To induce, persuade.

1340–70.  Alex. & Dind., 98. Þat i ne am temted ful tid to turne me þennus.

a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 226 b. The vsing of such gentill fashions toward them,… so tempted theim that they could none otherwise do.

a. 1674.  Clarendon, Surv. Leviath. (1676), 15. Which might temt him to under value.

1716.  Gay, Trivia, I. 164. The rowing crew, To tempt a fare, clothe all their tilts in blue.

1742.  W. Collins, Pers. Ecl., IV. 31. Unhappy land! whose blessings tempt the sword.

1825.  Scott, Betrothed, xix. He was tempted to think that he had been something hasty in listening to the arguments of the Archbishop.

1875.  Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 42. The sick are tempted by pleasant meats and drinks.

Mod.  One is tempted to think that it had been pre-arranged. The fine morning had tempted many out.

  Hence Tempted ppl. a. (also absol.).

c. 1340.  Hampole, Prose Tr., 5. Sothely I haue na wondyr if þe temptid fall.

1591.  Shaks., Two Gent., II. vi. 8. If thou hast sin’d. Teach me (thy tempted subiect) to excuse it.

1603.  [see TEMPTER 1].

c. 1611.  Chapman, Iliad, X. 436. Lest from their tempted rest Some other God should stir the foe.

1667.  [see 4].

1839.  Bailey, Festus, xxix. (1852), 484. May God forbear, To judge the tempted purpose of my heart!

1844.  Mrs. Browning, Brown Rosary, xiv. The Tempted is sinning.