Temperate

//ˈtɛmpəɹət// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To render temperate; to moderate obsolete

    "It inflames temperance, and temp'rates wrath."

Adjective
  1. 1
    Moderate; not excessive.

    "temperate heat"

  2. 2
    Moderate; not excessive.; Specifically, moderate in temperature.

    "These trees can only grow in temperate climates."

  3. 3
    Moderate; not excessive.; Moderate in the indulgence of the natural appetites or passions

    "temperate in eating and drinking."

  4. 4
    Proceeding from temperance.

    "The temperate sleeps, and spirits light as air."

  5. 5
    Dependent on life in a temperate climate.

    "temperate fishes"

Adjective
  1. 1
    not extreme wordnet
  2. 2
    not extreme in behavior wordnet
  3. 3
    (of weather or climate) free from extremes; mild; or characteristic of such weather or climate wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
abstemiousequablemildrestrainedabstemiouscontinent

Example

More examples

"Our country's climate is temperate."

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1380, in Middle English, the verb in 1540; borrowed from Latin temperātus, perfect passive participle of temperō (“to moderate, forbear, combine properly”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix) and -ate (verb-forming suffix). See temper. Displaced native Old English ġemetegod.

Related phrases

and the cold less than in the frigid zoneso called because the heat is less than in the torrid zonetemperate rainforesttemperate zonethat part of the earth which lies between either tropic and the corresponding polar circle

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.