temptatio

Forms

temptātiō f (genitive temptātiōnis); third declension^[1] Also spelt tentātiō.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin temptō (“to handle, test, try”) + -tiō.^[4][1][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Cicero, who writes to Atticus of fresh attacks of an illness (novae temptationes).^[4][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Livy uses it for an attempt and for a hostile attempt or attack.^[4][8] In Christian Latin, from Tertullian on, it became the word for a trial and for temptation;^[6][8] Augustine calls the world full of temptation at every hour.^[6][8] Medieval Latin used it for a trial or affliction and for an inducement to sin,^[2] and in England also for the official testing of bread and ale.^[3] English temptation comes from Old French and directly from the Latin.^[5]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for attacks of illness.^[4][6][7]
• 59 BC–AD 17 – Livy uses it for an attempt and for an attack.^[4][8][7]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it for temptation.^[6][8][7]
• AD 354–430 – Augustine, in the City of God, speaks of the world as full of temptation.^[6][8][7]
• c. 1200 – English borrows it as temptation.^[5]
• 1236 – An English charter uses it for testing ale.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. An attempt, a trial.^[4][6]
2. A hostile attempt; an attack.^[4][8]
3. An onset or attack of illness.^[4][6]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Temptation, inducement to sin.^[6][2][8]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A trial, affliction.^[2]
6. (Medieval Latin) A test or examination, as of bread and ale.^[3]

Related words

• English temptation

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
3. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
7. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier