Allurements

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The factors that entice or appeal to someone's interest or desire, often resulting in temptation or attraction
2. Characteristics or elements that draw people in through charm or appeal, often fostering a sense of desire or fascination
3. Qualities or features that attract someone's attention or interest

Etymology: Falconers gave the root of this word its first concrete sense. In Old French, a "leurre" was a bundle of feathers, often with a scrap of meat tied to it, that a trainer swung on a cord to coax a hawk back to the fist. The hawk was drawn in by something it could see and want. Old French built the verb "aleurer" from that lure, meaning to entice with bait, and English took it as "allure," to tempt someone toward something. English then added the suffix "-ment," which turns verbs into nouns for the means or result of an action, as in "ment" in "enjoyment" or "settlement." The result names the things that draw us in. Qualities that catch our interest are, in effect, the trainer's bundle of feathers, the thing that makes us turn toward it.

Synonyms: enticements, temptations, attractions, lures, seductions

Antonyms: repulsions, distractions, deterrents, aversion