Wiktionary

temper

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Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishtemperen,tempren,fromOld Englishġetemprian,temprian,borrowed fromLatintemperō(“I divide or proportion duly, I moderate, I regulate; intransitive senses I am moderate, I am temperate”),fromtempus(“time, fit season”).Compare alsoFrenchtempérer.Doubletoftamper.Seetemporal.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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temper(countableanduncountable,pluraltempers)

  1. A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type ofmood,avolatilestate; a habitual way ofthinking,behavingorreacting.
    to have a good, bad, or calmtemper
  2. State of mind; mood.
  3. A tendency to becomeangry.
    to have a hastytemper
    He has quite atemperwhen dealing with salespeople.
  4. Anger;afitofanger.
    an outburst oftemper
    • 1919,Henry Blake Fuller,chapter 28, inBertram Cope’s Year‎[5]:
      Hortense remained for several days in a condition of sullen anger—she was a cloud lit up by occasional unaccountable flashes oftemper.
    • 1953,C. S. Lewis,chapter 1, inThe Silver Chair,London: Geoffrey Bles, published1965:
      Jill suddenly flew into atemper(which is quite a likely thing to happen if you have been interrupted in a cry).
    • 1999,Colm Tóibín,chapter 4, inThe Blackwater Lightship‎[6],New York: Scribner, page110:
      […]she banged the door as she left as though intemperand walked to her car.
  5. Calmnessof mind;moderation;equanimity;composure.
    to keep one'stemper;to lose one'stemper;to recover one'stemper
  6. (obsolete)Constitution of body; the mixture or relative proportion of the fourhumours:blood,choler,phlegm,andmelancholy.
    • 1650,Thomas Fuller,A Pisgah-Sight of Palestine and the Confines Thereof‎[7],London: John Williams,Book 3, Chapter 12, p. 345:
      […]it is hard to say, whether [Christ’s] pain was more shamefull, or his shame more painfull unto him: the exquisiteness of his bodilytemper,increasing the exquisiteness of his torment, and the ingenuity of his Soul, adding to his sensibleness of the indignities and affronts offered until him.
  7. Middle state or course; mean; medium.
  8. The state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities.
    thetemperof mortar
  9. Theheattreatmentto which ametalor othermaterialhas beensubjected;a material that has undergone a particular heat treatment.
  10. The state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling.
    thetemperof iron or steel
  11. (sugar manufacture,historical)Milk of lime, or other substance, employed in the process formerly used to clarify sugar.
    • 1803,John Browne Cutting, “A Succinct History of Jamaica” inRobert Charles Dallas,The History of the Maroons,London: Longman and Rees, Volume 1, pp. xciv-xcv,[8]
      All cane juice is liable to rapid fermentation. As soon, therefore, as the clarifier is filled, the fire is lighted, and thetemper(white lime of Bristol) is stirred into it. The alkali of the lime having neutralized its superabundant acid, a part of it becomes the basis of the sugar.
  12. (pottery,architecture)A non-plastic material, such as sand, added to clay to prevent shrinkage and cracking during drying or firing;tempering.

Synonyms

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Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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temper(third-person singular simple presenttempers,present participletempering,simple past and past participletempered)

  1. Tomoderateorcontrol.
    Temperyour language around children.
    • 1963June, “Second thoughts on Beeching”, inModern Railways,page361:
      It is all very welltemperingenthusiasm for the Report in most of its particulars, as the thinking press has since the debate, [...].
  2. To strengthen or toughen a material, especially metal, by heat treatment;anneal.
    Temperingis a heat treatment technique applied to metals, alloys, and glass to achieve greater toughness by increasing the strength of materials and/or ductility. Tempering is performed by a controlled reheating of the work piece to a temperature below its lower eutectic critical temperature.
    • 1697,Virgil,“Aeneis”, inJohn Dryden,transl.,The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis.[…],London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…],→OCLC:
      Thetemper'dmetals clash, and yield a silver sound.
  3. (cooking)To adjust the temperature of an ingredient (e.g. eggs or chocolate) gradually so that it remains smooth and pleasing.
  4. Tosautéspicesingheeor oil to releaseessential oilsfor flavouring a dish inSouth Asiancuisine.
  5. Tomixclay,plasterormortarwith water to obtain the properconsistency.
  6. (music)Toadjust,as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.
  7. (obsolete,Latinism)Togovern;tomanage.
  8. (archaic)To combine in due proportions; toconstitute;tocompose.
    • 1610–1611(date written),William Shakespeare,“The Tempest”,inMr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies[…](First Folio), London:[…]Isaac Iaggard,andEd[ward]Blount,published1623,→OCLC,[Act III, scene iii]:
      You fools! I and my fellows / Are ministers of fate: the elements / Of whom your swords aretemper'dmay as well / Wound the loud winds, or with bemock'd-at stabs / Kill the still-closing waters, as diminish / One dowle that's in my plume;[…]
  9. (archaic)Tominglein due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, tosoften;tomollify;toassuage.
    • 1834–1874,George Bancroft,History of the United States, from the Discovery of the American Continent,volume(please specify |volume=I to X),Boston, Mass.:Little, Brown and Company[et al.],→OCLC:
      ,Volume 2
      Puritan austerity was sotemperedby Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system.
    • 1682(first performance),Thomas Otway,Venice Preserv'd
      Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee / Totemperman: we had been brutes without you.
    • 1812–1818,Lord Byron,“(please specify |canto=I to IV)”,inChilde Harold’s Pilgrimage. A Romaunt,London: Printed forJohn Murray,[…];William Blackwood,Edinburgh; and John Cumming, Dublin; byThomas Davison,[…],→OCLC,(please specify the stanza number):
      But thy fire / Shall be moretempered,and thy hope far higher.
    • 1709,Joseph Addison,The Tatler,number100:
      She [the Goddess of Justice] threw darkness and clouds about her, thattemperedthe light into a thousand beautiful shades and colours.
  10. (obsolete)To fit together; to adjust; to accommodate.

Derived terms

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Translations

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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