tenter

Pronunciation

• IPA: /tɑ̃.te/^[1]

Forms

tenter^[1] Old French tempter, tanter.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin temptō (“to touch, feel; to try, test; to attack”), also written “tentō”, probably after the popular pronunciation.^[4][5][2][6] The TLFi, the Grand Robert and the Petit Robert note its confusion with tentō (“to shake, agitate”), a frequentative of tendō (“to stretch”), Rey says “temptō” itself has no known etymology.^[2][5][7][4] The TLFi and Wiktionary present the French verb as coming down from the Latin rather than borrowed from it.^[2][1]

Compare Old Occitan temptar, Spanish tentar and Italian tentare.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century) has tempter Deu, to ask God for proofs of his power without need.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the Voyage de saint Brendan (about 1125) it means to incite someone to a forbidden thing, and at the end of the 12th century God tente a person's fidelity; the Bible's Dieu tenta Abraham keeps this sense.^[2][4][5] The secular sense “to make someone want something” is in Jean de Meun (about 1275), whence être tenté de (1623) and se laisser tenter.^[2][4]

“To try, attempt” is found in the mid-13th century, tenter la fortune is in Amyot (1559), tenter fortune in 1740, and tenter de with the infinitive in 1670.^[2][4] Tenter Dieu came to mean to put oneself in danger (1656), as does tenter le diable.^[4][7] The old sense “to probe a wound” (about 1180) was lost in the 16th century.^[4]

Timeline

• First half of the 12th century – Tempter Deu, Oxford Psalter.^[2]
• c. 1125 – To tempt to sin, Voyage de saint Brendan.^[2]
• c. 1180 – To probe a wound.^[4]
• Mid-13th century – “To try”.^[2]
• c. 1275 – To make someone want, Jean de Meun.^[2]
• 1559 – Tenter la fortune, Amyot.^[2]
• 1623 – Être tenté de.^[2]
• 1670 – Tenter de with the infinitive.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To attempt, try: tenter une expérience, tenter de s'enfuir, tenter sa chance.^[10][1][4]
2. To tempt, attract, appeal to: ce voyage me tente, être tenté de, to be inclined to.^[1][2]
3. To tempt to sin: le démon tenta Ève, tenter le diable.^[7]
4. (literary) Tenter Dieu: to court disaster, (dated) to put to the test.^[7][5]

Word family

• tentant
• retenter

Related words

• tentation
• tentative
• tentateur
• Latin temptō
• English tempt

Usage notes

A separate verb tenter “to cover with a tent” (1869) is derived from tente.^[5][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 182b
7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)