Origin Story
Tantalize springs from the wretched punishment of a king in Greek myth. Tantalus was a wealthy king beloved by the gods, but he committed a grave sin by trying to test them. As punishment he was made to stand in the middle of a pool in the underworld: when, parched with thirst, he bent to drink, the water drained away; when, faint with hunger, he reached for the fruit above his head, the branch swung out of reach. Food and drink stood before his eyes, yet he could never touch them. From this dreadful tale came tantalize — "to torment by holding what is wanted just out of reach."
The metallic element tantalum also takes its name from this myth. Its resistance to acids — its inability to absorb what surrounds it — was seen as echoing Tantalus, who stood surrounded by water yet could not drink.
-
Online Etymology Dictionarytantalize (v.): 1590s, with -ize + Latin Tantalus, from Greek Tantalos, mythical king of Phrygia punished in the afterworld by being made to stand in water that receded and under fruit that withdrew whenever he tried to eat or drink
-
Merriam-Webster Dictionarytantalize: from Latin Tantalus, from Greek Tantalos, a king condemned to stand in water that recedes when he stoops to drink
-
Oxford English Dictionarytantalize: from Tantalus, the mythological king, + -ize
Word Evolution
Words from the Same Root
Memory Hook
Picture King Tantalus, forever unable to reach the water and fruit before him — that punishment is tantalize.
""The cruelest punishment was to keep what one craved in plain sight, forever out of reach.""
