temper
To moderate or controlTo moderate or control.
Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
» I think Tom is bad-tempered.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
6 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 1
Examples
96 sentencesI think Tom is bad-tempered.
Tom is quick-tempered, isn't he?
deTom ist hitzköpfig, nicht wahr? — Dani6187
I think that Tom is bad-tempered.
Meaning
10 sensesTo moderate or control.
Temper your language around children.
mäßigen
умеря́тьumerjátʹ, уме́ритьuméritʹ
To strengthen or toughen a material, especially metal, by heat treatment; anneal.
закаля́тьzakaljátʹ, закали́тьzakalítʹ
To sauté spices in ghee or oil to release essential oils for flavouring a dish in South Asian cuisine.
More meanings 7
To mix clay, plaster or mortar with water to obtain the proper consistency.
To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.
To adjust the temperature of an ingredient (e.g. eggs or chocolate) gradually so that it remains smooth and pleasing.
(Latinism, obsolete)To govern; to manage.
(archaic)To combine in due proportions; to constitute; to compose.
(archaic)To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage.
Puritan austerity was so tempered by 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 / To temper man: we had been brutes without you.
(obsolete)To fit together; to adjust; to accommodate.
- bring to a desired consistency, texture, or hardness by a process of gradually heating and cooling
- harden by reheating and cooling in oil
- adjust the pitch (of pianos)
- make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else
Origin
From Middle English temperen, tempren, from Old English ġetemprian, temprian, borrowed froFrom Middle English temperen, tempren, from Old English ġetemprian, temprian, borrowed from Latin temperō (“(transitive) to divide or proportion duly, to moderate, to regulate; (intransitive) to be moderate, temperate”), from tempus (“time, fit season”). Compare also French tempérer. Doublet of tamper. See temporal.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
tempers, tempering, tempered, temperedTenses
temper · tempered · will temper · have temperedSynonyms
7 synonymsWord family
15 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.