1543: tantalize Mar 5, 2019

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Even though it was never part of the culture of the English, there are a number of words which come from Greek mythology which have entered the English language. This is true of words like 'narcissism' and 'clue', but also 'tantalize'. Unlike the other words with the '-alize' suffix, such as 'nationalize', 'tantalize' is not completely connected to that ending. Instead, the word comes from 'Tantalus', who was cursed to be in a pool of water with fruit over his head that he could not consume.
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