attempt

Pronunciation

• IPA: /əˈtempt/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French attempter, a latinized form of atenter “to try, attempt, test” (modern attenter),^[2][3][4] or directly borrowed from Latin attemptāre (“to try; to tamper with; to attack”),^[3][5] from ad (“to, toward”) and temptāre (“to try, touch”),^[2][3] the source of tempt.^[3][4] The noun is from the verb.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

To try to do, make an effort: before 1393, in Gower's Confessio Amantis,^[3] the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2] The OED's first examples are from 1513.^[6]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century attempt also meant “to try with temptations, to tempt” (1513, now archaic) and “to try with afflictions” (1525).^[6] The noun, an effort in a difficult or uncertain matter, is from about 1534,^[3] the 1530s in Etymonline, and 1548 in Merriam-Webster.^[2][5] An attack, especially on someone's life, is from the 1580s,^[2] as in an attempt on the king's life.^[7][8]

Timeline

• before 1393 – to try.^[3]
• 1513 – to tempt.^[6]
• c. 1534 – noun, an effort.^[3]
• 1580s – noun, an attack.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To try to do or achieve something; to endeavor.
2. (archaic) To tempt.
3. (archaic) To attack.

Noun

1. An effort or try.
2. An attack: an attempt on his life.

Word family

• attemptable
• attempter
• attemptability
• unattempting
• reattempt
• unattempted

Related words

• tempt
• temptation

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster