Blandishment \BLAN-dish-muhnt\ , noun;
1. Speech or action that flatters and tends to coax, entice, or persuade; allurement - often used in the plural
Blandishment dates to the 1590's and is based on blandish which dates to the 1300's. Blandish comes from Old French blandiss-, the present participle of blandir ("to flatter, caress"). The Old French word derives from Latin blandiri ("flatter") from blandus ("mild, smooth"). Blandus is also the forebear of bland.
The suffix -ment is originally French from Latin -mentum, and when added to a verb it can represent the result or product of the action. So if blandish means "flatter" then blandishment is the product of flattery, and the definition makes sense.
Cool, huh?
Today's word and the first definition were both taken from Dictionary.com's 'Word of the Day' for Tuesday, March 15
Etymologies come from the Oxford English Dictionary and/or Etymonline.com
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