attempt

Etymology

Late 14th century, as Middle English attempten, from Old French atempter, from Latin attemptō (“I try, solicit”), from ad (“to”) + temptare, more correctly tentare (“to try”); see tempt. The noun is from the 1530s, the sense "an assault on somebody's life, assassination attempt" (French attentat) is from 1580.

verb

1. To try.
   I attempted to sing, but my throat was too hoarse.
   to attempt an escape from prison
   A group of 80 budding mountaineers attempted Kilimanjaro, but 30 of them didn't make it to the top.
   Something attempted, something done, / Has earned a night's repose. 1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Village Blacksmith
   Some poems, echoing the purpose of early poetic treatises on scientific principles, attempt to elucidate the mathematical concepts that underlie prime numbers. Others play with primes’ cultural associations. Still others derive their structure from mathematical patterns involving primes. 2013 July-August, Sarah Glaz, “Ode to Prime Numbers”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4
2. (obsolete) To try to move, by entreaty, by afflictions, or by temptations; to tempt.
3. (archaic) To try to win, subdue, or overcome.
   one who attempts the virtue of a woman
4. (archaic) To attack; to make an effort or attack upon; to try to take by force.
   to attempt the enemy's camp
   without attempting his adversary's life 1830, John Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic

noun

1. The action of trying at something.
   We made an attempt to cross the stream, but didn't manage.
   This poem is much better than the feeble attempt of mine.
   It was worth the attempt.
   No matter how many failed attempts we made, we maintained a positive attitude and tried again and again until we succeeded.
   But was it responsible governance to pass the Longitude Act without other efforts to protect British seamen? Or might it have been subterfuge—a disingenuous attempt to shift attention away from the realities of their life at sea 2012-03, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87
2. An assault or attack, especially an assassination attempt.
   1584 No man can charge us of any attempt against the realm. (Allen's Defence Of English Catholics, cited after Edinburgh review 1883, p. 378)