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tempered

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tempered¹

Where it comes from

From Middle English tempred, itempered, ytempred, ytemprid, from Old English ġetemprod (“tempered, moderate, goverened, cured”), past participle of Old English ġetemprian (“to temper, moderate, govern, cure”), equivalent to temper + -ed.

adjective

  1. in compounds, not comparable Having a specified disposition or temper. even-tempered
  2. not comparable Pertaining to the metallurgical process for finishing metals. "Not forged!" and snatching Perth's levelled iron from the crotch, Ahab held it out, exclaiming — "Look ye, Nantucketer; here in this hand I hold his death! Tempered in blood, and tempered by lightning are these barbs; and I swear to temper them triply in that hot place behind the fin, where the whi
  3. not comparable Pertaining to the industrial process for toughening glass, or to such toughened glass.
  4. not comparable Moderated or balanced by other considerations. The downcast eye, the rosy blush, the retiring grace, are all proper in their season; but modesty, being the child of reason, cannot long exist with the sensibility that is not tempered by reflection.

    Similar: mellow, sober, measured, middle of the road, mild, moderate, nonexcessive, nonextreme, nonfanatic, proper, reasonable, reasonous

  5. not comparable Pertaining to the well-tempered scale, where the twelve notes per octave of the standard keyboard are tuned in such a way that it is possible to play music in any major or minor key and it will not sound perceptibly out of tune.

Opposite: untempered

tempered²

Where it comes from

Partly from Middle English temperd, temprede, from Old English temprode, first and third person singular preterit of Old English temprian; and partly from Middle English tempred, i-tempred, from Old English ġetemprod. Equivalent to temper + -ed.

verb

  1. participle, past simple past and past participle of temper

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: hardened, qualified, diluted, burnt, sunbaked, treated, tuned, baked, annealed, burned, moderated, toned down, toughened, alleviated, softened, relieved

adjective

Opposite: untempered

Translations

Every language

adj pertaining to the industrial process for toughening glass, or to such toughened glass

Españoltemplado, temperado

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MLA

"tempered." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tempered. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

tempered. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tempered

Chicago

"tempered." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tempered.

BibTeX
@misc{tempered_2026,
  title = {tempered},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tempered},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}