Temple

/ˈtɛm.pl̩/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A house of worship, especially:; A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith.
  • Grammar: temple is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: house of worship, place of worship, shrine, bank.
  • Useful contrasts: basilica, chin, occipital region.
  • Usage evidence: Speaking of Kyoto, have you ever visited the Kinkakuji Temple?

How to use "temple"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "temple" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "temple" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "temple" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "temple" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "temple" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "house of worship" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "temple", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A house of worship, especially:; A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith.

    "The temple of Zeus was very large."

  2. 2
    The slightly flatter region, on either side of the head of a vertebrate, including a human, behind the eye and forehead, above the zygomatic arch, and forward of the ear.

    "Then Iael Hebers wife, tooke a naile of the tent, and tooke an hammer in her hand, and went softly vnto him, and smote the naile into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: (for he was fast asleepe, and weary;) so he died."

  3. 3
    A contrivance used in a loom for keeping the web stretched transversely.
  4. 4
    (Judaism) the place of worship for a Jewish congregation wordnet
  5. 5
    A house of worship, especially:; Synonym of synagogue, especially a non-Orthodox synagogue. Judaism

    "How often do you go to temple?"

Show 10 more definitions
  1. 6
    Either of the sidepieces on a set of spectacles, extending backwards from the hinge toward the ears and, usually, turning down around them.
  2. 7
    place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity wordnet
  3. 8
    A house of worship, especially:; As opposed to an LDS meetinghouse, a church closed to non-Mormons and necessary for particular rituals. Mormonism
  4. 9
    an edifice devoted to special or exalted purposes wordnet
  5. 10
    A meeting house of the Oddfellows fraternity; its members.
  6. 11
    the flat area on either side of the forehead wordnet
  7. 12
    Any place regarded as holding a religious presence. figuratively
  8. 13
    Any place seen as an important centre for some activity. figuratively

    "a temple of commerce; a temple of drinking and dining"

  9. 14
    Anything regarded as important or minutely cared for. figuratively

    "My body is my temple."

  10. 15
    A gesture wherein the forefingers are outstretched and touch pad to pad while the other fingers are clasped together. figuratively

    "Again Abdullah listened intently, his eyes closed, his ten fingers forming a temple of his hands in front of him."

Verb
  1. 1
    To build a temple for; to appropriate a temple to; to temple a god transitive

    "though the Heathen (in many places) Templed and adored this drunken God"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A male given name from Latin.

    "The two known human AIDS viruses are evolving at a rapid rate equivalent to that of influenza viruses, said Dr. Temple F. Smith of Harvard's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, an author of a new report on the AIDS virus family tree."

  2. 2
    Any of the former chief temples to YHWH in Jerusalem, particularly Solomon's Temple. Judaism, historical
  3. 3
    A female given name from Latin.

    "Temple Hayes, 35, a minister with the Church of Religious Science of West Palm Beach, told the survivors that support and a positive attitude are important in fighting any type of disease. "In today's times, it is essential that people come together and support each other with like-minded experiences," she said."

  4. 4
    Either of two of the Inns of Court in London (the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple), built on a site once occupied by the Knights Templar. UK

    "Up to his five-and-twentieth year he had been industrious and steady, had kept his terms in the Temple, and studied late and early."

  5. 5
    A surname.

    "Wildlife biologist Stanley Temple hypothesised that perhaps the dodo tree was dependent on its seeds passing through the digestive system of dodos in order to properly germinate and that the handful of individuals in the 1970s were the last remaining trees from seeds that passed through a dodo in the 1690s-1700s when they went extinct."

Show 14 more definitions
  1. 6
    Places in the United Kingdom:; A suburb of Glasgow, Scotland (OS grid ref NS5469).
  2. 7
    Places in the United Kingdom:; A village in Midlothian council area, Scotland (OS grid ref NT3158).
  3. 8
    Places in the United Kingdom:; A small village in Bisham parish, Windsor and Maidenhead borough, Berkshire, England (OS grid ref SU8484).
  4. 9
    Places in the United Kingdom:; A small village in Blisland parish, on Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, England (OS grid ref SX1473).
  5. 10
    Places in the United States:; A city in Carroll County and Haralson County, Georgia.
  6. 11
    Places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Crawford County, Indiana.
  7. 12
    Places in the United States:; A town in Franklin County, Maine.
  8. 13
    Places in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Clare County, Michigan.
  9. 14
    Places in the United States:; A town in Hillsborough County, New Hampshire.
  10. 15
    Places in the United States:; A ghost town in Williams County, North Dakota.
  11. 16
    Places in the United States:; A town in Cotton County, Oklahoma.
  12. 17
    Places in the United States:; A census-designated place in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
  13. 18
    Places in the United States:; A city in Bell County, Texas, named after Bernard Moore Temple of the Santa Fe Railway.
  14. 19
    A neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Synonyms

All synonyms
house of worshipplace of worshipshrinebankbeamborder

Antonyms

basilicachinoccipital regionpretorium

Example

"Speaking of Kyoto, have you ever visited the Kinkakuji Temple?"

Common questions

What does "temple" mean?

A house of worship, especially:; A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith.

What is a synonym for "temple"?

Common synonyms include: house of worship, place of worship, shrine, bank, beam, border.

How do you use "temple" in a sentence?

Speaking of Kyoto, have you ever visited the Kinkakuji Temple?

How do you pronounce "temple"?

Pronounced /ˈtɛm.pl̩/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English temple, from Old English templ, tempel, borrowed from Latin templum (“shrine, temple, area for auspices”). Compare Old High German tempal (“temple”), also a borrowing from the Latin.

Etymology 2

From Middle English temple, from Old French temple, from Vulgar Latin *temp(u)la, from Latin tempora (“the temples”), plural of tempus (“temple, head, face”). See temporal bone.

Etymology 3

Borrowed from Latin templum (“a small timber, a purlin”); compare templet and template.

More for "temple"

Synonyms

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