a. and sb. [ad. med.L. tentātīvus adj. (tentātīva sb. in Schol.L.), f. tentāt-, ppl. stem of tentāre for temptāre to try; see TEMPT v. and -IVE. So F. tentative sb. (16th c. in Godef., Compl.), examination, attempt; also as adj., experimental (obs.).]
A. adj. Of the nature of an experiment, trial, or attempt; made or done provisionally as an experiment; experimental.
1588. [implied in TENTATIVELY].
1626. Bp. Hall, Contempl., O. T., XX. iii. Falshood, though it be but tentative, is neither needed nor approved by the God of truth.
1768. Johnson, Pref. to Shaks., Wks. IX. 240. Works tentative and experimental must be estimated by their proportion to the general and collective ability of man.
1851. D. Wilson, Preh. Ann. (1863), II. IV. ii. 241. The interpretations must therefore be regarded as tentative.
1874. Green, Short Hist., vii. § 3. 364. A policy of this limited, practical, tentative order was … best suited to the England of her day.
B. sb. Something done as an experiment or trial; an essay, an attempt; † a hostile attempt (obs.).
1632. J. Hayward, trans. Biondi’s Eromena, 175. They had no time to get out … any tentative of theirs serving them to no purpose, for that the citie was walled round about.
1687. Rycaut, Hist. Turks, II. 321. He was going to make a tentative upon Palotta, a place of good strength.
1692. Temple, Mem., Wks. 1731, I. 431. They tried some little Tentatives upon us, whether we would be content to leave out all Mention of his Majesty’s Mediation, as well as that of the Pope’s?
1898. Pop. Sci. Monthly, Sept., 609. Tentatives were made in both directions.
b. Trying, experimenting; experimentation.
1865. Grote, Plato, I. xvii. 493. A process, more or less tedious, of tentative and groping.
