TEMPERED • DICCIONARIO INGLES.COM • Definition of Tempered

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/tˈɛmpərd/ Listen

verb

Temper v. t. (past & past part. tempered; pres. part. tempering)

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; to soothe; to calm. "Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system." "Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you." "But thy fire Shall be more tempered, and thy hope far higher." "She (the Goddess of Justice) threw darkness and clouds about her, that tempered the light into a thousand beautiful shades and colors."

To fit together; to adjust; to accomodate. "Thy sustenance... serving to the appetite of the eater, tempered itself to every man's liking."

(Metal.) To bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to temper iron or steel. "The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound."

To govern; to manage. (A Latinism & Obs.) "With which the damned ghosts he governeth, And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth."

To moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc.

(Mus.) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.

Synonyms: To soften; mollify; assuage; soothe; calm.

Temper v. i.

To accord; to agree; to act and think in conformity. (Obs.)

To have or get a proper or desired state or quality; to grow soft and pliable. "I have him already tempering between my finger and my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him."

adjective

Tempered adj. Brought to a proper temper; as, tempered steel; having (such) a temper; chiefly used in composition; as, a good-tempered or bad-tempered man; a well-tempered sword.

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Etymology of 'Tempered'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tempered" Quotes from Famous Books

... even the scent. My natural impulse is to see the worst points of everyone. I admit that people generally improve upon acquaintance, but I have no weak sentiment about my fellow-men—they are often ugly, stupid, ill-mannered, ill-tempered, unpleasant, unkind, selfish. It is a positive delight sometimes to watch a thoroughly nasty person, and to reflect how much one detests him. It is a sign of grace to do so. How otherwise should one learn to hate oneself? If ...

— Father Payne • Arthur Christopher Benson

... that gracious bygone time when a mild and good-tempered spirit was the atmosphere of our House, when the manner of our speakers was studiously formal and academic, and the storms and explosions of to-day were wholly unknown,' etc.—Translation of the opening remark of a leading article in this morning's ...

— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... the Greeks and Romans, who shaved the upper lip—in the variegated embroidered dresses which in combat were not unfrequently thrown off, with a broad gold ring round their neck, wearing no helmets and without missile weapons of any sort, but furnished instead with an immense shield, a long ill-tempered sword, a dagger and a lance, all ornamented with gold, for they were not unskilful in working in metals. Everything was made subservient to ostentation—even wounds, which were often enlarged for the purpose of boasting a broader scar. ...

— The Land-War In Ireland (1870) - A History For The Times • James Godkin

... believed that a diet of lentils would tend to make their children good tempered, cheerful, and wise, and for this reason constituted it their principal food. A gravy made of lentils is largely used with their rice by the natives of India, ...

— Science in the Kitchen. • Mrs. E. E. Kellogg

... lighted; and a figure that had come out and taken up little Bilham's attitude, a figure whose cigarette-spark he could see leaned on the rail and looked down at him. It denoted however no reappearance of his younger friend; it quickly defined itself in the tempered darkness as Chad's more solid shape; so that Chad's was the attention that after he had stepped forward into the street and signalled, he easily engaged; Chad's was the voice that, sounding into the night with promptness and seemingly with joy, greeted ...

— The Ambassadors • Henry James

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