Temptas

Temptas is a Latin term that serves as the second-person singular present indicative active form of the verb temptō, temptāre, meaning “you tempt,” “you test,” or “you attempt.” The entry form temptāre is the infinitive, and temptō is the first-person singular present indicative. As a member of the first conjugation, temptās represents the standard present tense ending for the 2nd person singular in many Latin spellings, and the macron in temptā indicates a long vowel in classical orthography. In ordinary ASCII transcriptions, the form is commonly written as temptas.

In usage, temptas functions as a direct address, with the subject often implicit in Latin verb forms. It appears in classical and later Latin texts wherever a speaker is addressing a single person and describing the act of tempting, testing, or tempting someone to act. The sense can range from enticing someone to do something to testing someone’s resolve or virtue, depending on the surrounding context and the nuance of temptō.

Morphologically, temptas is part of a broader paradigm that includes temptō, temptās, temptat, temptāmus, temptātis, temptant in the present indicative; other tenses and moods (such as subjunctive and imperative) have corresponding forms derived from temptāre. The root tempt- is common to related Latin vocabulary for testing, trying, or enticing.

See also temptāre, temptō, and Latin verb conjugation resources for the first conjugation.