attempt
pronunciation
How to pronounce attempt in British English:
UK [əˈtempt]
How to pronounce attempt in American English:
US [əˈtempt]
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- Noun:
- earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something
- the act of attacking
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- Verb:
- make an effort or attempt
- enter upon an activity or enterprise
Word Origin
- attempt
- attempt: [14] Attempting is etymologically related to tempting. The Latin verb attemptāre was formed with the prefix ad- from temptāre, which meant ‘try’ as well as ‘tempt’ (the semantic connection is preserved in modern English try, with the contrasting senses ‘attempt’ and ‘put to the test’). The Latin form passed into Old French as atenter (hence modern French attenter), but was later latinized back to attempter, the form in which English acquired it.=> tempt
- attempt (v.)
- late 14c., from Old French attempter (14c.), earlier atenter "to try, attempt, test," from Latin attemptare "to try" (cognates: Italian attentare, Old Provençal, Portuguese attentar, Spanish atentar), from ad- "to, upon" (see ad-) + temptare "to try" (see tempt). Related: Attempted; attempting.
- attempt (n.)
- 1530s, from attempt (v.). Meaning "effort to accomplish something by violence" is from 1580s, especially as an assault on someone's life.
Example
- 1. I don 't want to attempt anything too fancy .
- 2. The two new papers attempt an answer .
- 3. This attempt to extract some numbers falls flat .
- 4. But history shows that minting developed not as a private-sector attempt to minimise the costs of trading , but as a government operation .
- 5. This was an attempt to close that chapter .