different between tempt vs wheedle

English

Etymology

From Middle English tempten, from Old French tempter (French: tenter), from Latin temptare, from tentare (“to handle, touch, try, test, tempt”), frequentative of tenere (“to hold”). Displaced native English costning (“temptation”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /t?mpt/, /t?mt/
• Rhymes: -?mpt, -?mt

Verb

tempt (third-person singular simple present tempts, present participle tempting, simple past and past participle tempted)

1. (transitive) To provoke someone to do wrong, especially by promising a reward; to entice.

2. (transitive) To attract; to allure.

3. (transitive) To provoke something; to court.

Synonyms

• (provoke someone to do wrong): entice, fand, lure, pander, tease
• (attract; allure): beguile, entrance; see also Thesaurus:allure
• (provoke something): foment, urge; see also Thesaurus:incite

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

• tempt in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• tempt in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• tempt at OneLook Dictionary Search

Latvian

Verb

tempt (tr., 1st conj., pres. tempju, temp, tempj, past tempu)

1. to gulp
2. to swill
3. to quaff

Conjugation

English

Etymology

Origin uncertain. Perhaps continuing Middle English wedlen (“to beg, ask for alms”), from Old English w?dlian (“to be poor, be needy, be in want, beg”), from Proto-Germanic *w?þl?n? (“to be in need”).

More likely, borrowed from German wedeln (“to wag one's tail”), from Middle High German wedelen, a byform of Middle High German wadelen (“to wander, waver, wave, whip, stroke, flutter”), from Old High German w?dal?n (“to wander, roam, rove”). In this case, it may be a doublet of waddle, or an independently formed etymological equivalent.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /??i?.d?l/ (without the wine-whine merger)
• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?wi?.d?l/ (with the wine-whine merger)

Verb

wheedle (third-person singular simple present wheedles, present participle wheedling, simple past and past participle wheedled)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To cajole or attempt to persuade by flattery.

2. (transitive) To obtain by flattery, guile, or trickery.

Derived terms

• wheedler
• wheedling
• wheedlesome

Translations

Noun

wheedle (plural wheedles)

1. (archaic) A coaxing person.

Anagrams

• wheeled