temper

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Derived terms 1.3.2 Translations 1.4 Verb 1.4.1 Translations 1.5 External links

[edit] English

Wikipedia

[edit] Etymology

From Middle English temperen < Old English *temprian < Latin temperare (“‘to divide or proportion duly, mingle in due proportion, qualify, temper, regulate, rule, intr. observe measure, be moderate or temperate’”) < tempus (“‘time, fit season’”); see temporal.

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -ɛmpə(r)

[edit] Noun

temper (plural tempers)

1. A tendency to anger or lose patience easily.

   He has quite a temper when dealing with salespeople.

2. State of mind.
   • 1719- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     ...I must testify, from my experience, that a temper of peace, thankfulness, love, and affection, is much the more proper frame for prayer than that of terror and discomposure...

3. The heat treatment to which a metal or other material has been subjected; a material that has undergone a particular heat treatment.

[edit] Derived terms

• lose temper
• short temper
• short-tempered

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to temper (third-person singular simple present tempers, present participle tempering, simple past and past participle tempered)

1. To moderate or control.

   Temper your language around children.

2. To heat-treat a material, particularly a metal.

   Next, temper the steel by dropping the white hot metal into cold water.

3. To mix clay, plaster or mortar with water to obtain the proper consistency

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links

• temper in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• temper in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911