Etymograph

English

temptation

Temptation comes from Latin temptatio ‘trial, temptation’, and goes back to temptō ‘to test the strength’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemptō1‘to test the strength’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemptatio2‘trial, temptation’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400temptacion2
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1762temptation2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin temptatio
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English temptation
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or: “At length, one night, when the company by ſome…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemptōWiktionary, Latin temptatio‘to test the strength’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemptatioWiktionary, English temptation‘trial, temptation’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400temptacionWiktionary, English temptation
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1762temptationWiktionary, English temptation. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1762, Charles Johnstone, The Reverie; or: “At length, one night, when the company by ſome…”

Formed from tempt + -ation

Proto-Indo-European *téndeti

…

Latin tentare ‘to handle, touch, try, test, tempt’

Latin temptare

Old French tempter

Middle English tempten ‘to tempt’

English tempt

Linked words

through Latin temptō ‘to test the strength’

attempt, tent, taunt, 2 more

Today it means

noun The act of tempting.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “temptation”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin temptatio. 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 / temptation

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