Contemper
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate or soften. obsolete, transitive
"Though earth hath engroſſed the name yet water hath proved the ſmarteſt grave; which in forty dayes ſwallowed almoſt mankinde, and the living creation ; Fiſhes not wholly eſcaping, except the Salt Ocean were handſomely contempered by a mixture of the freſh Element."
Example
More examples"Though earth hath engroſſed the name yet water hath proved the ſmarteſt grave; which in forty dayes ſwallowed almoſt mankinde, and the living creation ; Fiſhes not wholly eſcaping, except the Salt Ocean were handſomely contempered by a mixture of the freſh Element."
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin contemperō, from con- + temperō (“to temper”). Compare contemperate.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.