Forms: 1 temprian, 3 temprien, (Orm.) temmprenn, 3–4 tempren, 3–6 tempre, (4–5 tempire, 4–6 -ere, -ir, -or, 5 -yr, -ore, 5–6 -ier), 4– temper. See also TAMPER v.1 [OE. temprian (so also in OS. temperon), ad. L. temperāre to divide or proportion duly, to mingle in due proportion, to combine properly; to qualify, temper; to arrange or keep in due measure or proportion, to keep within limits, to regulate, rule. Thence OF. temprer (12th c.), later (tremprer) tremper, 13th c. in Godef. (whence TRAMP v.2 to soak); also tempérer (learned form after L.) to moderate by some mixture. The sense-development of the Eng. verb was prob. influenced by the French. A differentiated form is TAMPER v.1
L. temperāre is generally held to be a deriv. of tempus, tempor- a time or season, the proper time or season; but the sense history of both words is prehistoric and obscure: see Walde, Lat. Etymol.]
I. 1. trans. To bring (anything) to a proper or suitable condition, state, or quality, by mingling with something else; to qualify, alloy, or dilute by such mixture or combination. Also fig. arch.
a. 1000. Blickl. Glosses, Ps. ci 10. Potum meum cum fletu temperabam, glossed ic temprede.
13[?]. K. Alis., 7850. Venym he tok, and tempred hit with wyn.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Cor. xii. 24. But god tempride the bodi [Vulg. Deus temporavit corpus], ȝyuynge more worschipe to it, to whom it failide.
c. 1425. trans. Arderne’s Surgery (E.E.T.S.), 72. Þe ȝolk of a raw ey tempered with bole armoniac to sich þikknes þat it may by a clistery be ȝette into þe lure.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, b vj b. Take Oyle of spayne and tempere it with clerc wyne.
1544. Phaer, Pestilence (1553), M v. In a hote season it is good to temper ye said wine with a litle rose-water.
a. 1591. H. Smith, Serm. (1637), 134. As wine is tempered with water, so let discretion temper zeale.
1660. Burney, Κέρδ. Δῶρον (1661), 110. To compound an absolute one [Temperamentum ad pondus] of the other 3 forms of Government [Spartan, Athenian, Roman], as the ingredients, and … tampering with Monarchy.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 106, ¶ 3. The good old Knight … tempered the Inquiries after his own Affairs with several kind Questions relating to themselves.
1756. Nugent, Montesquieu’s Spir. Laws (1758), I. IV. viii. 55. There was a necessity for tempering them with others that might soften their manners.
2. To modify (some unsuitable or excessive state or quality, or some thing or person in respect of such), esp. by admixture of some other quality, etc.; to reduce to the suitable or desirable (middle) degree or condition free from excess in either direction; to moderate, mitigate, assuage, tone down.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., II. 46. And eft ʓetemprie seo bilewitnys þæt fyr, þæt hit to reðe ne sy.
a. 1050. Liber Scintill., x. 52. Bryne lichamena mid cealdrum estum to tempriʓenne ys [L. temperandus est].
c. 1200. Ormin, 2893. Forr aȝȝ birrþ rihhtwisnesse ben Þurrh mildheorrtnesse temmpredd.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter cvi. 29. Þe persecuciouns he tempird and made þaim suffrabil.
1552. Huloet, Temper sorow with mirth.
1596. Spenser, State Irel., Pref. 2. We may wish that in some passages it had bin tempered with more moderation.
1596. Bacon, Max. & Use Com. Law, Ep. Ded. (1636), 3. Kings which … do temper their magnanimity with justice.
1768. Sterne, Sent. Journ. (1778), II. 176. (Maria). God tempers the wind, said Maria, to the shorn lamb.
1781. J. Moore, View Soc. It. (1790), I. xxxix. 420. Our admiration of the Romans is tempered with horror.
1834. Mrs. Somerville, Connex. Phys. Sc., xxvi. (1849), 291. The cold currents from the poles tempering the intense heat of the equatorial regions.
1871. Macduff, Mem. Patmos, x. 132. He … who tempers judgment with mercy.
1878. Huxley, Physiogr., 80. In tempering the activity of the oxygen with which it is associated.
1898. Stopf. A. Brooke, Gospel of Joy, 270. Are they [powers of Christ] so living and full within you that they … order and temper your thoughts so that nothing is felt towards God which they do not encourage?
b. intr. (for pass.)
1860. Dickens, Uncomm. Trav., ix. A flavour of damaged oranges, which, a little further down towards the river, tempered into herrings, and gradually toned into a cosmopolitan blast of fish.
3. To mix, mingle, blend (ingredients) together, or (one ingredient) with another, in proper proportions. Also fig. arch.
c. 1386. Chaucer, Can. Yeom. Prol. & T., 348. Er þat the pot be on the fir ydo Or metals with a certeyn quantitee My lord hem tempreth and no man but he.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 488/1. Temperyn, or menge to-gedur, commisceo, misceo.
1530. Palsgr., 754/1. Whan metalles be well tempered togyther they wyll be all as one.
1671. J. Webster, Metallogr., v. 88. They are said to grow of sulphur and argent vive mixt and tempered together.
1759. J. Mills, Duhamel’s Husb., I. viii. (1762), 21. To fling and temper amongst it ashes or chalk.
1876. Blackie, Songs Relig. & Life, 195. If wisely you temper, and skilfully blend The hard-headed Scot with the quick-witted Grecian.
4. To prepare by mingling; to make by due mixture or combination; to concoct, compound, compose, make up, devise. lit. and fig. Obs. or arch.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 10. In cold I brenne and frese in hete: And thanne I drinke a biter swete With dreie lippe and yhen wete. Lo, thus I tempre mi diete.
1542. Udall, Erasm. Apoph., 195. He wrote … to Pausanias his physician that he should … tempre drynkes and medecines for hym.
a. 1569. Kingesmyll, Man’s Est., ix. (1580), 44. But there is a strong medicine a temperyng.
1600. Holland, Livy, VIII. xviii. 294. That certain dames of Rome … boiled and tempered ranke poisons (to kill their husbands).
1650. Bulwer, Anthropomet., 155. Sometimes they will temper a certain Colour, with Hens dung and Saffron.
5. To restore the proper ‘temper’ or ‘temperament’ to; to bring into a good or desirable state of body or health; to cure, heal, refresh.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 474. Se ðe wile mid soðum læcecræfte his lichaman ʓetemprian, swa swa dyde se witeʓa Isaias.
c. 1430. Lydg., Min. Poems (Percy Soc.), 196. Ayer of nature yevith inspiracioun … To tempre the spiritis by vertu vegetatiff.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, b ij b. Bot it tempur yowre hawke, that is to say ensayme yowre hawke with in .iiij. days, I meruell.
1561. Hollybush, Hom. Apoth., 44 b. He may drinke a litle wyne vpon it, to tempere hys mouth of the bitternesse.
1613. Purchas, Pilgrimage, III. xvii. 284. Gallus, a riuer … the waters whereof, temperatly drunken, did exceedingly temper the braine, and take away madnes.
6. To bring into a suitable or desirable frame of mind; to dispose favorably, to persuade; also, to appease, mollify, pacify. Obs. or arch.
1525. Ld. Berners, Froiss., II. xci. [lxxxvii.] 271. If he be nat reasonable, the duke of Berrey and the duke of Burgoyne wyll so temper hym, that ye shal be frendes and cosyn to the kynge.
1546. St. Papers Hen. VIII., XI. 44. How moch the Emperour hath doone soo to tempre the French King, it appered in his last bargayn with Fraunce.
1588. Shaks., Tit. A., IV. iv. 109. Now will I to that old Andronicus, And temper him with all the Art I haue, To plucke proud Lucius from the warlike Gothes.
1678. Temple, Lett. to Sir L. Jenkins, Wks. 1731, II. 470. I found both the King and the Duke growing so angry upon it, that I thought it my part to temper them as far as I could.
1710. Steele, Tatler, No. 194, ¶ 7. The Lady so well tempered and reconciled them both, that she forced them to join Hands.
1874. Bushnell, Forgiven. & Law, 59. Is it true that God must be gained or tempered transactionally … in order to the letting forth of grace upon his enemies?
II. 7. To keep, conduct, or manage in just measure; to regulate; to control, direct, guide, rule, govern, overrule. Obs. exc. dial.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 250. Ac heo [seo sunne] temprað ða eorðlican wæstmas æʓðer ʓe on wæstme ʓe on ripunge.
13[?]. Coer de L., 659. Kyng Rychard the fyre bet, Thomas to the spytte hym set, Fouk Doyly tempryd the wood.
a. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 7616. Þai [the heavens] tempre þe streng[t]he of alle þe elementes.
c. 1400. Gower, Praise of Peace, 160. Though thou the werres darst wel undirtake, Aftir reson yit tempre thi corage.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 488/1. Temporyn, or sette yn mesure, tempero.
1528. Tindale, Obed. Chr. Man, 148 b. All the Apostles chose two … and cast lottes desyringe God to temper them that the lotte myght fall on the most ablest.
1576. Gosson, Spec. Hum., vi., in Sch. Abuse (Arb.), 77. Thou God … that … turnes the spheares, and tempers all on hie.
1591. Spenser, M. Hubberd, 1294. His snakie wand, With which the damned ghosts he governeth, And furies rules and Tartare tempereth.
1659. Leak, Waterwks., 32. There is a Pipe with a Cock … which serves to temper the course of the Water.
1725. Pope, Odyss., IV. 326. Supremest Jove Tempers the fates of human race above.
1835. D. Webster, Orig. Scot. Rhymes, 152 (E.D.D.). This birkie bodie can wi’ speed Temper yer ilka thrum and thread.
8. To restrain within due limits, or within the bounds of moderation; in later use often simply, to restrain, check, curb.
a. 1050. Liber Scintill., xxviii. (1889), 107. Forþi hi na tempredon [L. non temperauerunt] ʓefernysse hætan.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 1624. He dude hom ssame ynou & temprede hom vol wel & made hom sone milde ynou þo hii were rebel.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., B. 775. Ȝif þou tynez þat toun, tempre þyn yre.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 743. To toilen wiþ þe erþe, Tylen & trewliche lyven & her flech tempren.
c. 1400. Brut, 31. Lud his sone … gouernede wel þe lande, and miche honourrede gode folc, and temprede and amendit wickede folc.
1538. Starkey, England, I. iv. 120. Yf we coude fynd a way to tempur and refrayne thayr malyce.
1599. Warn. Faire Wom., II. 737. Learne to temper your excessive griefe.
1777. Robertson, Hist. Amer., II. v. 81. Cortes … was more solicitous to temper than to inflame their ardour.
1821. Byron, Sardan., I. ii. 347. Since they are tumultuous, Let them be temper’d, yet not roughly.
† b. refl. To control or restrain oneself. Obs.
c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 360. An is, þæt ʓehwa hine sylfne ʓetempriʓe mid ʓemete on æte and on wæte.
13[?]. Cursor M., 17244 (Cott.). For-sak þi serc o silk and line, And temper þe wit[h] alle and wine.
1531. Elyot, Gov., III. xxiv. (1883), 379. He coulde nat tempre him selfe in redyng Greke bokes whyles the Senate was sittyng.
1600. Holland, Livy, V. xlv. 209. So as they could scarcely temper themselves and forbeare, but presently set upon them.
1651. Hobbes, Govt. & Soc., vii. § 4. 114. I wish that not onely Kings, but all other Persons … would so temper themselves as to commit no wrong.
† c. refl. To restrain oneself or refrain from († of).
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 100 b. Warnyng men to tempre themselues from entryng in to wycked warres.
1561. T. Norton, Calvin’s Inst., I. 42. If the readers will temper them of curiositie, and not more gredily than mete is, seke for combersome and entangled disputations.
1658. W. Burton, Itin. Anton., 180. I could not temper my self … from causing his discourse to be transcribed hither.
9. To regulate suitably to need or requirement; to fit, adapt, conform, accommodate, make suitable. Const. to. Now rare or Obs.
1450–1530. Myrr. our Ladye, 86. The sufferaunce of god, whyche temperyth all thynges to hys seruauntes, as they may bere to theyr mooste profyt.
1573–80. Baret, Alv., T 113. To Temper his talke to the fantasie and pleasure.
1649. Milton, Eikon., i. 5. They were indeed not temper’d to his temper.
1662. Stillingfl., Orig. Sacr., II. v. § 8. God tempered the Ceremoniall Law much according to the condition and capacity of the persons it was prescribed to.
1665. Manley, Grotius’ Low C. Warres, 243. If the one King … had tempered himself and his Laws, according to the strength and prevalence of parties.
III. Various technical uses.
10. To bring (clay, mortar, etc.) to a proper consistence for use by mixing and working it up with water, etc. Also fig.
13[?]. Cursor M., 22940 (Fairf.). Þe potter … al new he tempris his clay.
1387. Trevisa, Higden (Rolls), I. 271. Whan þat stoon is i-tempred wiþ water and torned to playstre.
c. 1400. Brut, 57. Wille ȝe slee me for my blode forto temper wiþ ȝoure morter?
1535. Coverdale, Ecclus. xxxviii. 30. He fashioneth the claye with his arme, and with his fete he tempereth it.
1617. Moryson, Itin., I. 32. Lime tempered, not with water, but with wine, incredibly durable.
1719. Young, Busiris, V. i. Yes, I will … temper all my cement with their blood.
1884. C. T. Davis, Manuf. Bricks, etc., v. (1889), 130. The object of tempering the clay is to thoroughly mix it, and prepare the material for the use of the moulder.
† 11. To moisten (a substance, usually medicinal or culinary ingredients in a comminuted state) so as to form a paste or mixture; to mix to a paste.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxi. 94. Take þe lefes … and stampe þam and tempre þam with water and drink it.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 4180. A plastre dolorous … Which is not tempred with vynegre, But with poverte & indigence.
c. 1440. Anc. Cookery, in Househ. Ord. (1790), 426. Take soden porke and grynde hit smal, and tempur hit with rawe yolkes of eyren.
1563. T. Gale, Antidot., II. 15. The herbes must be mixed and tempered with Axungia.
1668. Culpepper & Cole, Barthol. Anat., I. ix. 22. Some moisture to temper the meat and make it liquid.
1674. Ray, Collect. Words, Smelting Silver, 115. With water tempered into a past to a due quality.
b. spec. in Painting: To prepare (colors) for use by mixing them with oil, etc.
1531. Elyot, Gov., III. xix. (1883), 318. In temperynge his colours, he lacked good size, wherwith they shulde have ben bounden, and made to endure.
1691. Ray, Creation, I. (1692), 97. The most skilful Painter cannot so mingle and temper his Colours.
1837. Sir F. Palgrave, Merch. & Friar (1844), 9. The metallic or body colours are to be tempered or mixed with oil.
1859. Sala, Gaslight & D., ii. 25. Colours … ground in water, and subsequently tempered with size.
† 12. To steep or dissolve (a substance) in a liquid (cf. TRAMP v.2); fig. to drench, suffuse. Obs.
c. 1489. Caxton, Blanchardyn, 147. Wyth eyen all tempred wyth teerys.
1530. Palsgr., 754/1. I temper, I laye breed or other thynges in stepe…. You muste temper your breed in vynayger.
1600. Holland, Livy, XXX. xv. 750. Which [poison] hee commaunded him to temper in a goblet of wine, and to carie it to Sophonisba.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., VII. xxxiv. 50. Take blew Smalts, temper it in Water, and rub the Picture with it.
† 13. trans. To soften (iron, wax, etc.) by henting; to melt. Also intr. for pass. Obs.
1535. Coverdale, Isa. xliv. 12. The smyth taketh yron, and tempreth it with hote coles, and fashioneth it with hammers.
1590. Sir J. Smyth, Disc. Weapons, 19 b. The Archers did vse to temper with fire a conuenient quantitie of waxe, rosen, and fine tallowe together.
1597. Shaks., 2 Hen. IV., IV. iii. 140. I haue him alreadie tempering betweene my finger and my thombe, and shortly will I scale with him.
14. To bring (steel) to a suitable degree of hardness and elasticity or resiliency by heating it to the required temperature and immersing it, while hot, in some liquid, usually cold water; applied also to the hardening of copper, etc. Also fig.
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, 214. I say Cupide … hise arwis forge & file … And wel his doughtyr temperede al this whyle The heuedis in the welle.
14[?]. Tundale’s Vis., 1059. As men shulde temper irne or stele.
1530. Palsgr., 754/1. They have a great advauntage in Spayne, to temper their blades well, bycause of the nature of their ryvers.
1603. Holland, Plutarch’s Mor., 115. We must doe as the Smithes who temper yron: For when they have given it a fire, and made it by that meanes soft, loose and pliable, they drench and dip it in cold water, whereby it becommeth compact and hard, taking thereby the due temperature of stiffe steele.
1758. Reid, trans. Macquer’s Chym., I. 64. The hardness of Steel may be considerably augmented by tempering it; that is, by making it red-hot, and suddenly quenching it in some cold liquor.
1881. Metal World, No. 8. 121. This they converted into the purest steel, and tempered to the hardest and yet the most elastic pitch.
b. intr. (for pass.).
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., s.v., A metallic compound in which these qualities [hardness and elasticity] can thus be produced is said to temper, or to take temper.
1884. W. H. Greenwood, Steel & Iron, xvii. § 669. Mild steel containing from 0.05 to 0.20 per cent. of carbon will weld, but does not temper.
† 15. To tune, adjust the pitch of (a musical instrument). Obs. exc. as in b.
c. 1300. Prov. Hending, x., in Salomon & Sat., etc. (1848), 272. He nul no gle bygynne er he haue tempred is pype.
1390. Gower, Conf., III. 301. He takth the Harpe and in his wise He tempreth, and of such assise Singende he harpeth forth withal.
1575. Lanemam, Lett. (1871), 41. For fyling his napkin, temperd a string or too with his wreast.
1593. Bacchus Bountie, in Harl. Misc. (Malh.), II. 274. Whereupon M. Barlycap tempered up his fiddle, and began.
b. spec. To tune (a note or instrument) according to some temperament: see TEMPERAMENT 10. See also TEMPERED 1 e.
1727–41. Chambers, Cycl., s.v. Temperament, To mend these imperfect concords, the musicians have bethought themselves to temper, i. e. give them part of the agreeableness of perfect ones…. All such divisions of the octave are called tempered, or temperative systems.
1788. Cavallo, in Phil. Trans., LXXVIII. 250. All the fifths, all the thirds, and in short all the chords of the same denomination, are equally tempered throughout.
1875. A. J. Ellis, trans. Helmholtz’ Sensat. Tone, III. xvi. 509. It is clearly not necessary to temper the instruments to which the singer practises.
16. To bring into harmony, attune. Const. to. Obs. or arch.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Beoth., III. met. xii. 84 (Camb, MS.). And there he [Orpheus] temprede hise blaundysshynge soonges by resownynge strenges.
1637. Milton, Lycidas, 33. Mean while the Rural ditties were not mute, Temper’d to th’ Oaten Flute.
1754. Gray, Progr. Poesy, 26. Thee the voice, the dance, obey, Temper’d to thy warbled lay.
1860. Warter, Sea-board, II. 367. If we make melody in our hearts, and if our souls are tempered to harmony, then is the Divinity enlarged within us.
17. To set or adjust the share and other parts of (a plough) in the proper position for making the furrow of the required depth and width. ? Obs.
1523. Fitzherb., Husb., § 4. It is necessarye for an housbande to knowe howe these plowes shulde be tempered, to plowe and turne clene, and to make no reste balkes. Ibid. All these maner of plowes shulde haue all lyke one maner of temperyng in the yrens.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, I. 33. The ploughman will be able to afford him ocular proof how he places (tempers) all the irons of the plough in relation to the state of the land. Ibid., 404. To ‘temper a plough’ is the great aim of the good ploughman.
† 18. To regulate (a clock). Sc. Obs.
1538. Aberdeen Regr. (1844), I. 157. For his gud seruice to be done in keiping and temporing of thair knok within the tolbutht, for his fee.
1592–3. in Spottiswoode Misc. (1845), II. 269. Wnderstanding the great pains and travels of Archibald Stedman in tempering the knock.
