Etymologically
Log in

tentativus

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 24 October 2026 at 18:47. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [tɛn.taːˈtiː.wʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ten.taˈtiː.vus][1]

Forms

tentātīvus (feminine tentātīva, neuter tentātīvum, adverb tentātīvē); first/second-declension adjective[1] Also spelled temptātīvus.[2][3][1]

Etymology

It is from Latin temptō (“to handle, try, test”), formed on its past participle ⟨temptāt-⟩ with the suffix -īvus.[3][1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler finds it first in Boethius, in the first quarter of the 6th century AD, meaning “trying, testing”.[2]

Semantic evolution

In medieval logic it often rendered Greek πειραστικός (peirastikós): tentativa, with dialectica or the like understood, was the art of argument by trial, and Alexander Neckam ascribes its teaching to Plato.[3] Thomas Aquinas says that dialectic is “tentative” because it argues from principles foreign to its subject.[5] The DMLBS also has the sense “purely experimental, academic”,[3] and a charter of 1377 has temptativus meaning “deceitful”.[6]

From Medieval Latin it passed into English as tentative in the 1580s,[4] and Wiktionary lists Italian tentativo, French tentatif and German tentativ.[1]

Timeline

  • first quarter of the 6th century AD – Boethius uses it.[2]
  • 1377 – A charter uses temptativus for “deceitful”.[6]
  • 1580s – English borrows it as tentative.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to a trial or experiment; trying, testing; tentative.[3][2][1]
  2. (Medieval Latin, logic) Of argument by trial (as a feminine noun, the art of such argument).[3][5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) Purely experimental, academic.[3]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Deceitful, misleading.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh
  6. ^ a b c du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre