Why this word is great
COSTEN — [Verb] To try or tempt. From Middle English costnien, from Old English costnian (a subsidiary form of costian, "to tempt, try, prove, examine"), from Proto-Germanic *kustōną ("to try, taste"), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- ("to enjoy, taste"). Unlike "test" (which implies deliberate examination) or "entice" (which suggests seduction), "costen" carries the quiet provocation of a thing left unguarded—the apple on the branch just within reach, the unlocked door left slightly ajar, the unspoken challenge in a lover’s sidelong glance. It is the old, slow pull of curiosity, the silent dare of the untried, the moment before the hand reaches out—not for conquest, but to see what might give.