Word Direct Answers

What does "temperate" mean?

Temperate: Not marked with passion; not violent; cool; calm; as, temperate language. She is not hot, but temperate as the morn. Shak. That sober freedom out of which there springs Our loyal passion for our temperate kings. Tennyson.

Additional senses

  1. 2.Moderate in the indulgence of the natural appetites or passions; as, temperate in eating and drinking. Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy. Franklin.
  2. 3.Proceeding from temperance. [R.] The temperate sleeps, and spirits light as air. Pope. Temperate zone (Geog.), that part of the earth which lies between either tropic and the corresponding polar circle; -- so called because the heat is less than in the torrid zone, and the cold less than in the frigid zones.
  3. 4.To render temperate; to moderate; to soften; to temper. [Obs.] It inflames temperance, and temperates wrath. Marston.

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