Taunt
early 16th century: from French tant pour tant ‘like for like, tit for tat’, from tant ‘so much’, from Latin tantum, neuter of tantus . An early use of the verb was ‘exchange banter’.
wiktionary
Middle French tanter(“to tempt, try, provoke”), variant of Old French tempter(“to try”). Doublet of tempt.
Compare Old French tant(“so great”), French tant(“so much”), Latin tantus(“of such size, so great, so much”). See ataunt.
etymonline
taunt (v.)
mid-15c. (implied in tauntingly), possibly [Skeat] from French tanter, tenter "to tempt, try, provoke," variant of tempter "to try" (see tempt). Or from French tant pour tant "so much for so much, tit for tat," on notion of "sarcastic rejoinder" (considered by OED the "most likely suggestion"), thus from Old French tant "as much," from Latin tantus, from tam "so;" see tandem. Related: Taunted; taunting.
taunt (n.)
1520s, "bitter invective," probably from taunt (v.).
