temper
noun
[ ˈtɛmpə ]
• a person's state of mind seen in terms of their being angry or calm.
• "he rushed out in a very bad temper"
Similar:
temperament,
disposition,
nature,
character,
personality,
make-up,
constitution,
mind,
spirit,
stamp,
mettle,
mould,
mood,
frame of mind,
cast of mind,
habit of mind,
attitude,
humour,
grain,
• the degree of hardness and elasticity in steel or other metal.
• "the blade rapidly heats up and the metal loses its temper"
temper
verb
• improve the hardness and elasticity of (steel or other metal) by reheating and then cooling it.
• "the way a smith would temper a sword"
• act as a neutralizing or counterbalancing force to (something).
• "their idealism is tempered with realism"
Similar:
moderate,
modify,
modulate,
tone down,
mitigate,
palliate,
alleviate,
allay,
assuage,
lessen,
reduce,
weaken,
lighten,
soften,
cushion,
qualify,
• tune (a piano or other instrument) so as to adjust the note intervals correctly.
Origin:
Old English temprian ‘bring something into the required condition by mixing it with something else’, from Latin temperare ‘mingle, restrain’. Sense development was probably influenced by Old French temprer ‘to temper, moderate’. The noun originally denoted a proportionate mixture of elements or qualities, also the combination of the four bodily humours, believed in medieval times to be the basis of temperament, hence temper (sense 1 of the noun) (late Middle English). Compare with temperament.
out of temper
• in an irritable mood.
• "on waking each day she had been out of temper"
