Temptation

How to spell temptation

10 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce temptation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does temptation mean?

1. nounA strong urge or desire to do something, especially something unwise or forbidden.

Temptation in a sentence

• The dessert trolley was a real temptation after a long week of dieting.

• He resisted the temptation to check his phone during the meeting.

Where does temptation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb temptare, which meant 'to test, to try, or to probe', and from which the noun temptatio, 'a trial or testing', was formed. In early Christian Latin the word took on the religious sense of a test of faith, an enticement toward sin, and that moral colouring carried through into the broader meaning of being lured toward something pleasurable but unwise. English borrowed it through Old French temptacion in the 1200s, when it appeared in devotional writing about resisting wrongdoing. The silent 'p' that survives in the spelling reflects the Latin temptare and is the very letter most adults forget, since it is barely pronounced. The same root also gives us 'attempt' and 'tempt' itself, which is a useful reminder that the troublesome 'p' belongs there.

How the word is built

• tempt (from Latin temptare: to test, try, attempt)
• -ation (noun suffix forming the act or result)