temperate
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (3)
- (of weather or climate) free from extremes; mild; or characteristic of such weather or climate“a temperate region”“the temperate zones”“temperate plants”Opposite intemperateSimilar cold-temperate, equableSee also clement
- not extreme in behavior“temperate in his habits”“a temperate response to an insult”“temperate in his eating and drinking”Opposite intemperateSimilar moderate, abstemiousSee also mild, moderate
- not extreme“a moderate penalty”“temperate in his response to criticism”Synonyms: moderateOpposite intenseSimilar mild
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. temperatus, p. p. of temperare. See Temper, transitive verb
1. Moderate; not excessive; as, temperate heat; a temperate climate.
2. Not marked with passion; not violent; cool; calm; as, temperate language.
She is not hot, but temperate as the morn.— William Shakespeare
That sober freedom out of which there springs Our loyal passion for our temperate kings.— Alfred Tennyson
3. Moderate in the indulgence of the natural appetites or passions; as, temperate in eating and drinking.
Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy.— Benjamin Franklin
4. Proceeding from temperance. rare
The temperate sleeps, and spirits light as air.— Alexander Pope
Temperate zone Geog., that part of the earth which lies between either tropic and the corresponding polar circle; — so called because the heat is less than in the torrid zone, and the cold less than in the frigid zones.
Synonyms: Abstemious; sober; calm; cool; sedate.
To render temperate; to moderate; to soften; to temper. obsolete
It inflames temperance, and temperates wrath.— John Marston
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54