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temptation - 5 dictionary results

temp⋅ta⋅tion

  [temp-tey-shuhn]
Use temptation in a Sentence
–noun
1. the act of tempting; enticement or allurement.
2. something that tempts, entices, or allures.
3. the fact or state of being tempted, esp. to evil.
4. an instance of this.
5. (initial capital letter) the temptation of Christ by Satan. Matt. 4.
Origin:
1175–1225; ME temptacion < L temptātiōn- (s. of temptātiō) a testing. See tempt, -ation

Related forms:
temp⋅ta⋅tion⋅al, adjective

Synonyms:
1. lure, attraction, pull, seduction, inducement.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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temp·ta·tion   (těmp-tā'shən)   
n.  
  1. The act of tempting or the condition of being tempted.
  2. Something tempting or enticing.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Temptation

Temp*ta"tion\, n. [OF. temptation, tentation, F. tentation, L. tentatio.]

1. The act of tempting, or enticing to evil; seduction.

When the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. --Luke iv. 13.

2. The state of being tempted, or enticed to evil.

Lead us not into temptation. --Luke xi. 4.

3. That which tempts; an inducement; an allurement, especially to something evil.

Dare to be great, without a guilty crown; View it, and lay the bright temptation down. --Dryden.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : temptation
Spanish: tentación,
German: die Versuchung,
Japanese: 誘惑
More Translations »

temptation 
c.1225, from O.Fr. temptation (12c., Fr. tentation), from L. temptationem (nom. temptatio), from temptatus, pp. of temptare (see tempt).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Temptation

(1.) Trial; a being put to the test. Thus God "tempted [Gen. 22: 1; R.V., 'did prove'] Abraham;" and afflictions are said to tempt, i.e., to try, men (James 1:2, 12; comp. Deut. 8:2), putting their faith and patience to the test. (2.) Ordinarily, however, the word means solicitation to that which is evil, and hence Satan is called "the tempter" (Matt. 4:3). Our Lord was in this way tempted in the wilderness. That temptation was not internal, but by a real, active, subtle being. It was not self-sought. It was submitted to as an act of obedience on his part. "Christ was led, driven. An unseen personal force bore him a certain violence is implied in the words" (Matt. 4:1-11). The scene of the temptation of our Lord is generally supposed to have been the mountain of Quarantania (q.v.), "a high and precipitous wall of rock, 1,200 or 1,500 feet above the plain west of Jordan, near Jericho." Temptation is common to all (Dan. 12:10; Zech. 13:9; Ps. 66:10; Luke 22:31, 40; Heb. 11:17; James 1:12; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:12). We read of the temptation of Joseph (Gen. 39), of David (2 Sam. 24; 1 Chr. 21), of Hezekiah (2 Chr. 32:31), of Daniel (Dan. 6), etc. So long as we are in this world we are exposed to temptations, and need ever to be on our watch against them.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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