Word.ws English Dictionary

contemper

/kənˈtɛmpə(ɹ)/

contemper verb: to modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate or soften.

Verb

contemper (third-person singular simple present contempers, present participle contempering, simple past and past participle contempered)

  1. (obsolete, transitive) To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate or soften.
    • 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.1658, Thomas Browne, “Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall. […]. Chapter I”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, […] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, […], London: […] Hen[ry] Brome […], →OCLC, page 1
    • The antidotes […] have at leaſt allayed its bitterneſs, and contempered its malignity.1751 September 3 (Gregorian calendar), Samuel Johnson, “No. 150. Friday, August 24. 1751.”, in The Rambler, volume VI, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J....

Forms of contemper

third-person singular presentcontempers
present participlecontempering
past participlecontempered
pastcontempered

Origin of contemper

Borrowed from Latin contemperō, from con- + temperō (“to temper”). Compare contemperate.

Words that rhyme with contemper

Questions about contemper

What does contemper mean?
Contemper means to modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate or soften.
What part of speech is contemper?
Contemper is a verb.
How do you pronounce contemper?
Contemper is pronounced /kənˈtɛmpə(ɹ)/.
What is the past tense of contemper?
The past tense of contemper is contempered.

Words near contemper in the dictionary

  1. contemnor
  2. contemnors
  3. contemns
  4. contemp
  5. contemp.
  6. contemper
  7. contemperate
  8. contemperates
  9. contemperation
  10. contemperations
  11. contemperature

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: contemper (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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