tempernoun/ˈtɛmpə/

• 1

  A general tendency or orientation towards a certain type of mood, a volatile state; a habitual way of thinking, behaving or reacting.

  • to have a good, bad, or calm temper
  • A noble temper dost thou show in this;
• 2

  State of mind; mood.

  • Remember with what mild / And gracious temper he both heard and judg’d / Without wrauth or reviling;
  • […] I must testify from my Experience, that a Temper of Peace, Thankfulness, Love and Affection, is much more the proper Frame for Prayer than that of Terror and Discomposure;
• 3

  A tendency to become angry.

  • Mind your hasty temper!
  • He has quite a temper when dealing with salespeople.
• 4

  Anger; a fit of anger.

  • an outburst of temper
  • When I heard about it I got myself into a terrible temper.
• 5

  Calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure.

  • to keep one's temper; to lose one's temper; to recover one's temper
  • Reſtore your ſelues, vnto your temper, Fathers; / And, vvithout perturbation, heare me ſpeake: […]
• 6

  obsoleteConstitution of body; the mixture or relative proportion of the four humours: blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy.

  • […] it is hard to say, whether [Christ’s] pain was more shamefull, or his shame more painfull unto him: the exquisiteness of his bodily temper, 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.

  • The perfect lawgiver is a just temper between the mere man of theory, who can see nothing but general principles, and the mere man of business, who can see nothing but particular circumstances.
• 8

  The state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities.

  • the temper of mortar

temperverb/ˈtɛmpə/

• 1

  To moderate or control.

  • Temper your language around children.
  • It is all very well tempering enthusiasm 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.

  • Tempering is 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.
  • The temper'd metals clash, and yield a silver sound.
• 3

  cookingfoodlifestyleTo adjust the temperature of an ingredient (e.g. eggs or chocolate) gradually so that it remains smooth and pleasing.

• 4

  To sauté spices in ghee or oil to release essential oils for flavouring a dish in South Asian cuisine.

• 5

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

• 6

  entertainmentlifestylemusicTo adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.

• 7

  obsoleteTo govern; to manage.

  • With which the damned ghosts he governeth, / And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth.
• 8

  archaicTo combine in due proportions; to constitute; to compose.

  • You fools! I and my fellows / Are ministers of fate: the elements / Of whom your swords are temper'd may 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; […]