English
attempt
Attempt comes from Latin attemptō ‘to try, solicit’, and goes back to temptō ‘to test the strength’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemptō1‘to test the strength’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattemptō1‘to try’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atempter1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attempten1
- Englishearliest quotation 1584attempt1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English attempt
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1584, Allen’s Defence Of English Catholics: “No man can charge us of any attempt against…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemptōWiktionary, English attempt‘to test the strength’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEattemptōWiktionary, English attempt‘to try’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400atempterWiktionary, English attempt
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500attemptenWiktionary, English attempt
- Englishearliest quotation 1584attemptWiktionary, English attempt. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1584, Allen’s Defence Of English Catholics: “No man can charge us of any attempt against…”
The story
Late 14th century, as Middle English attempten, from Old French atempter, from Latin attemptō (‘to try, solicit’), from ad- (‘to’) + temptō; see tempt.
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with attempt, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Latin temptō ‘to try, attempt’
- tent ← tente ← tente ← tentāre
- taunt ← tanter ← tempter
- temptation ← temptacion ← temptatio
2 more relatives in the full family tree
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Today it means
verb To try.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “attempt”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin temptō / attempt