contemperation

English

Noun

contemperation (countable and uncountable, plural contemperations) (obsolete)

1. The act of tempering or moderating.
   • 1646, Thomas Browne, “Of the Cameleon”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC:

     Fourthly, The proper use of ayre attracted by the lungs, and without which there is no durable continuation in life, is not the nutrition of parts, but the contemperation of that fervour in the heart, and the ventilation of that fire alwaies maintained in the forge of life; […]

2. A proportionate combination or mixture.
   • 1664, Robert Boyle, chapter V, in Experiments and Considerations Touching Colours. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Henry Herringman […], published 1670, →OCLC, part I, page 91:

     I vvould further Knovv vvhy this Contemperation of Light and Shade, that is made, for Example, by the Skin of a Ripe Cherry, ſhould exhibit a Red, and not a Green, and the Leaf of the ſame Tree ſhould exhibit a Green rather than a Red; […]

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “contemperation”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)