Costen

//ˈkɒ.sən// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To try; tempt. obsolete, transitive

Etymology

From Middle English costnien, from Old English costnian, subsidiary form of Old English costian (“to tempt, try, prove, examine”), from Proto-Germanic *kustōną (“to try, taste”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- (“to enjoy, taste”). Cognate with German kosten (“to taste”). More at choose.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.