taunt

== English == === Pronunciation === enPR: tônt (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /tɔːnt/ (US) IPA(key): /tɔnt/ (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /tɑnt/ Rhymes: -ɔːnt === Etymology 1 === From Middle French tanter (“to tempt, try, provoke”), variant of Old French tempter (“to try”). Doublet of tempt. ==== Verb ==== taunt (third-person singular simple present taunts, present participle taunting, simple past and past participle taunted) (transitive) To make fun of (someone); to goad (a person) into responding, often in an aggressive manner. ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== taunt (plural taunts) A scornful or mocking remark; a jeer or mockery. ===== Translations ===== ==== Derived terms ==== === Etymology 2 === Compare Old French tant (“so great”), French tant (“so much”), Latin tantus (“of such size, so great, so much”). See ataunt. ==== Adjective ==== taunt (comparative more taunt, superlative most taunt) (obsolete, nautical) Very high or tall. === References === “taunt”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “taunt”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.