tempt

verb

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”).

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

   “She tempted me to eat the apple.”

   “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.”

2. To attract; to allure.

   “Its glossy skin tempted me.”

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

3. To provoke something; to court.

   “It would be tempting fate.”