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 ” ) . ( Received Pronunciation , General American ) IPA ( key ) : /tɛmpt/ , /tɛmt/ Audio ( General American ) : ( file ) Rhymes: -ɛmpt , -ɛmt tempt ( third-person singular simple present tempts , present participle tempting , simple past and past participle tempted ) ( transitive ) To provoke someone to do wrong , especially by promising a reward ; to entice . Synonyms: entice , 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 : [ … ] 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 : [ … ] ( 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. 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. ( transitive ) To provoke something; to court . Synonyms: foment , urge ; see also Thesaurus: incite It would be tempting fate. tempt providence Albanian: tundoj (sq) Arabic: أَغْوَى ( ʔaḡwā ) , أَغْرَى ( ʔaḡrā ) Armenian: գայթակղեցնել (hy) ( gaytʻakġecʻnel ) Asturian: tentar Bulgarian: изкушавам (bg) ( izkušavam ) Catalan: temptar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can 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 Greek: 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 Latvian: kārdināt Macedonian: соблазни ( soblazni ) Norwegian: friste Plautdietsch: vesieekjen Polish: kusić (pl) impf , skusić (pl) pf 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) ( dated ) 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) Arabic: أَغْرَى ( ʔaḡrā ) Bulgarian: съблазнявам (bg) ( săblaznjavam ) Catalan: temptar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 吸引 (zh) ( xīyǐn ) , 誘惑 / 诱惑 (zh) ( yòuhuò ) 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 Māori: whakapoapoa Norwegian: friste Polish: nęcić (pl) impf , znęcić pf 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) ( dated ) Telugu: ఎర వేయు ( era vēyu ) Turkish: cezbetmek (tr) Ukrainian: спокуша́ти ( spokušáty ) , прива́блювати ( pryvábljuvaty ) Volapük: bätön (vo) 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 Eli Smith , editors ( 1895–1910 ), “ tempt ”, in The Century Dictionary [ … ] , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co. , →OCLC . “ tempt ”, in OneLook Dictionary Search . tempt ( transitive , 1st conjugation , present tempju , temp , tempj , past tempu ) English terms inherited from Middle English English terms derived from Middle English English terms derived from Old French English terms derived from Latin English 1-syllable words English terms with IPA pronunciation English terms with audio pronunciation Rhymes:English/ɛmpt Rhymes:English/ɛmpt/1 syllable Rhymes:English/ɛmt Rhymes:English/ɛmt/1 syllable English transitive verbs English terms with usage examples English terms with quotations Latvian transitive verbs Latvian first conjugation verbs Latvian first conjugation verbs in -t Latvian lengthening (present) first conjugation verbs Pages with entries Pages with 2 entries Quotation templates to be cleaned Entries with translation boxes Terms with Albanian translations Terms with Arabic translations Terms with Armenian translations Terms with Asturian translations Terms with Bulgarian translations Terms with Catalan translations Requests for translations into Mandarin Terms with Danish translations Terms with Dutch translations Terms with Esperanto translations Terms with Finnish translations Terms with French translations Terms with Friulian translations Terms with Galician translations Requests for translations into Georgian Terms with German translations Terms with Ancient Greek translations Terms with Hebrew translations Terms with Hungarian translations Requests for translations into Icelandic Terms with Italian translations Terms with Japanese translations Terms with Kapampangan translations Requests for translations into Korean Terms with Latin translations Terms with Latvian translations Terms with Macedonian translations Terms with Norwegian translations Terms with Plautdietsch translations Terms with Polish translations Terms with Portuguese translations Terms with Romanian translations Terms with Russian translations Terms with Sardinian translations Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations Terms with Spanish translations Terms with Tagalog translations Terms with Telugu translations Requests for translations into Thai Terms with Turkish translations Terms with Tuvaluan translations Terms with Ukrainian translations Terms with Venetan translations Terms with Vietnamese translations Terms with Volapük translations Terms with Mandarin translations Mandarin terms with redundant transliterations Terms with Māori translations