enticement

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English enticement,^[2][3] borrowed from Old French enticement (“incitement, instigation”),^[4][5][6][7] from enticier (“to stir up, incite”),^[4][3] the source of entice, with the suffix -ment.^[5][3] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from 1150–70.^[8] The French verb is of uncertain origin, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *intītiō (“to set on fire”), from in- (“in”) and tītiō (“firebrand”).^[4][9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Incitement, instigation: 1303, in R. Mannyng's Handlyng Synne.^[5] Etymonline dates the word to about 1300, as the thing that entices,^[4] and the Middle English Dictionary quotes "Þe fendes enticement" from about 1330.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word came with the French senses of incitement and encouragement as well as temptation.^[8][2] In Middle English it often meant urging someone towards sin or wrongdoing,^[2] and the plain sense "instigation" lasted until 1587.^[5] From 1549, in L. Cox's translation of Erasmus, it means the action or the means of alluring.^[5][4] Johnson (1755) still defined it as alluring "to ill", quoting Milton's "sly enticement",^[11] while later dictionaries give attraction in general.^[5][3]

Timeline

• 1303 – incitement, instigation (obsolete after 1587).^[5]
• 1549 – the action of alluring; a means of alluring.^[5][4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Something that entices; an allurement: A free lunch was the enticement for new members.^[3][5][7]
2. The act of enticing.^[3][5][7]
3. (obsolete, 1303–1587) Incitement or instigation.^[3][5][7]

Related words

• entice

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10. ^ Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.