| 释义 |
temptation|tɛm(p)ˈteɪʃən|
Forms: α. 4– tempt-, 5–7 temt-; β. 3–7 (9 arch.) tent-.
[a. OF. temptaciun, -tation (12th c.), tentation (13th c. in Godef. Compl.), ad. L. tempt, tentātiōn-em, n. of action from temptāre, tentāre to tempt, q.v.]
1. The action of tempting or fact of being tempted, esp. to evil; enticement, allurement, attraction.
(Sometimes with more or less approach to senses 2 and 3.)
the temptation (in Christian Theol. and Art), that of Jesus in the wilderness (Matt. iv, etc.). Also used of those of mediæval saints by evil spirits, e.g. ‘The Temptation of St. Anthony’.
α1340Ayenb. 158 Huanne he [the devil] comþ ine gyse of angle..þanne is þe temptacion mest strang. Ibid. 228 Temptaciun. 13..Matt. vi. 13 in Paues 14th C. Eng. Bibl. Version, And ne lede us not in temptacyon. c1450Mankind 219 in Macro Plays 9 The temtacyon of þe flesch, ȝe must resyst lyke a man. 1526Tindale Matt. xxvi. 41 Watche and praye that ye fall not into temptacion. 1667Milton P.L. viii. 643 And all temptation to transgress repel. Ibid. ix. 364 Seek not temptation then, which to avoide Were better. 1837Dickens Pickw. ii, The temptation to take the stranger with him was equally great. 1846Trench Mirac. i. (1862) 112 But man is to be perfected, not by exemption from temptation, but rather by victory in temptation. 1877Mozley Univ. Serm. xvi. 271 Old-established rank has the temptation to luxurious indolence and pride. 1887Clara Bell tr. Woltmann & Woermann's Hist. Paint. II. iii. ii. i. 109 [Martin Schongauer's] well-known plate of the Temptation of S. Antony.
β1447O. Bokenham Seyntys (Roxb.) 9 As for the cardiacle that tentacyoun Betoknyth..Of oure gostly enmye. 1534More Comf. agst. Trib. ii. Wks. 1177/2 The first might we cal tentation, the second persecucion... So is tentacion tribulacion to a good man. 1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. (S.T.S.) I. 120 The guid in the battell throw tentatioun may fall. 1650Bulwer Anthropomet. 58 To suffer this tentation from evil spirits. 1650(Scottish) Psalms in Metre xcv. 8 Then harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, As in the desert, on the day of the tentation. 1678Sir G. Mackenzie Crim. Laws Scot. i. xvii. §6 (1699) 89 He is more guilty, seing he wants the natural tentation of the Adulterer.
b. With a and pl. An instance of this.
αa1225Ancr. R. 32 Þeo þet beoð ine stronge temptaciuns. a1340Hampole Psalter xxvi. 6 If temptacyons wax ageynes me. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 2 The more knoweng a man hathe the stronger ben his temptacyons. 1848Maurice Lord's Prayer vii. 91 We shall gain little..by changing that word for ‘trials’, as if every ‘trial’ did not of necessity involve a temptation.
βa1225Ancr. R. 246 Al so a muchel tentaciun, þet is þes feondes bles. a1568Coverdale Hope Faithf. xvii. (1574) 136 Bodely fraile lustes and tentations. 1625Donne Serm. iii. (1640) 22 Such a measure of grace as shall make me discerne a tentation and resist a tentation. 1693Apol. Clergy Scot. 43 The many Incumbrances, Tentations, Weaknesses, that we daily encounter. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xliii, When ye are pressed wi' ensnaring trials and tentations and heart⁓plagues.
c. Tempting quality, enticingness. rare. ? Obs.
c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 108 Lordes and lay⁓men and spryttualle her gave chase, For her fayer beawté grette temtacyon she hase. 1760–72H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 5 The..trees reached forth fruits of irresistible temptation.
d. transf. A thing that tempts; a cause or source of temptation.
1596Shakes. Merch. V. i. ii. 106 Set a deepe glasse of Reinish-wine on the contrary Casket, for if the diuel be within, and that temptation without, I know he will choose it. 1676Dryden Aureng-z. v. ii, Dare to be great, without a guilty crown; View it, and lay the bright temptation down. 1786Burns Address to Unco Guid vi, Ye're aiblins nae temptation. 1856Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. i. 17 The command of a permanent military force was a temptation to ambition.
2. The action or process of testing or proving; trial, test. Obs. or arch.
1382Wyclif 1 Macc. ii. 52 Wher [1388 Whether] Abraham in temptation was not founden feithful. 1535Coverdale Ecclus. xxvii. 5 The ouen proueth the potters vessell, so doth tentacion of trouble trye righteous men. 1552Abp. Hamilton Catech. (1884) 21 Thair is temptatioun quhairby man temptis God. 1677Gilpin Demonol. (1867) 58 Temptations are distinguished into trials merely, and seducements. 1885Bible (R.V.) Deut. iv. 34 To..take him a nation from the midst of another nation by temptations [so all versions from Wyclif: marg. Or, trials; or, evidences], by signs, and by wonders.
†3. A severe or painful trial or experience; an affliction, a trial. Obs.
c1595Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 43 Theire victuall spent and fresh water consumed, they susteyned a great temptacion. c1610Women Saints 198 Troubles and tentations which I endured by being..driuen out of my contrie. 1652Cromwell Let. to Ld. Wharton 30 June in Carlyle, [They] may be too great a tentation to her spirit.
4. Comb., as temptation-proof, adj., etc.
a1631Donne Serm. lx. (1640) 603 To bring me to thinke myselfe tentation-proofe, above tentation. 1691Norris Pract. Disc. 197 The Greatness of the happiness there..will make him Temptation-Proof against any present good or evil. 1889C. C. R. Up for Season 101, I leave without reluctance your temptation-guarded fold. 1908Westm. Gaz. 30 Oct. 13/3 The champion temptation-resisters.
Hence tempˈtational a., of the nature of temptation; tempˈtationless a., without temptation, to which there is no temptation.
1643Hammond Serm. John xviii. 40 Wks. 1683 IV. 513 An empty, profitless, temptationless sin. 1882J. Caldwell in Homiletic Q. Mag. VI. 106/2 The two verbs used here to describe the temptational agency of Lust. |