blandishment

== English == === Etymology === From blandish (“to persuade someone by using flattery, to cajole; to praise someone dishonestly, to flatter or butter up”) +‎ -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs, having the sense of ‘the action or result of what is denoted by the verbs’). Blandish is derived from Middle English blaundishen (“to flatter; to fawn; to be enticing or persuasive; to be favourable; of the sea: to become calm”) [and other forms] (whence blaundice (“flattery, blandishment; caresses, dalliance; allurement, attractiveness; deceitfulness, deception”) [and other forms]), from Middle English blaundishen, from blandiss-, the extended stem of Middle French blandir + Middle English -ishen (suffix forming verbs). Blandir is derived from Latin blandīrī, the present active infinitive of blandior (“to fawn, flatter; to delude”), from blandus (“fawning, flattering, smooth, suave; persuasive; alluring, enticing, seductive; agreeable, pleasant”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mel- (“erroneous, false; bad, evil”)) + -iō (suffix forming causative verbs from adjectives). === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈblæn.dɪʃ.m(ə)nt/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˈblæn.dɪʃ.mənt/ Hyphenation: bland‧ish‧ment === Noun === blandishment (plural blandishments) (countable) Often in the plural form blandishments: a flattering speech or action designed to influence or persuade. Synonyms: cajolery; see also Thesaurus:flattery (countable) Something alluring or attractive. (uncountable, figurative) Allurement, attraction. ==== Related terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === flattery on Wikipedia.Wikipedia