Etymology
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tempered (adj.)

1650s, "brought to desired hardness" (of metals, especially steel), past-participle adjective from temper (v.). Meaning "toned down by admixture" is from 1650s; of music or musical instruments, "tuned," from 1727.

Entries linking to tempered

temper (v.)
late Old English temprian "to moderate, bring to a proper or suitable state, to modify some excessive quality, to restrain within due limits," from Latin temperare "observe proper measure, be moderate, restrain oneself," also transitive, "mix correctly, mix in due proportion; regulate, rule, govern, manage." This is often described as from Latin tempus "time, season" (see temporal), with a sense of "proper time or season." But as the root sense of tempus seems to be "stretch," the words in the "restrain, modify" sense might be from a semantic shift from "stretching" to "measuring" (compare temple (n.1)). Meaning "to make (steel) hard and elastic" is from late 14c. Sense of "tune the pitch of a musical instrument" is recorded from c. 1300. Related: Tempered; tempering.

updated on January 20, 2014

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Definitions of tempered from WordNet

tempered (adj.)
made hard or flexible or resilient especially by heat treatment;
tempered glass
a sword of tempered steel
Synonyms: treated / hardened / toughened
tempered (adj.)
adjusted or attuned by adding a counterbalancing element;
criticism tempered with kindly sympathy
From wordnet.princeton.edu, not affiliated with etymonline.

Dictionary entries near tempered

temperament

temperamental

temperance

temperate

temperature

tempered

tempest

tempestuous

Templar

template

temple

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