temper'd

Adjective

tempered (not comparable)

1. (in-compounds) Having a specified disposition or temper.
   • even-tempered
2. Pertaining to the metallurgical process for finishing metals.
   • "Not forged!" and snatching Perth's levelled iron from the crotch, Ahab held it out, exclaiming — "Look ye, Nantucketer; here in this hand I hold his death! Tempered in blood, and tempered by lightning are these barbs; and I swear to temper them triply in that hot place behind the fin, where the...1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “'”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
3. Pertaining to the industrial process for toughening glass, or to such toughened glass.
4. Moderated or balanced by other considerations.
   • The downcast eye, the rosy blush, the retiring grace, are all proper in their season; but modesty, being the child of reason, cannot long exist with the sensibility that is not tempered by reflection.1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   mellow, sober, measured, middle of the road, mild, moderate, nonexcessive, nonextreme, nonfanatic, proper

5. Pertaining to the well-tempered scale, where the twelve notes per octave of the standard keyboard are tuned in such a way that it is possible to play music in any major or minor key and it will not sound perceptibly out of tune.

Verb

temper (third-person singular simple present tempers, present participle tempering, simple past and past participle tempered)

1. To moderate or control.
   • Temper your language around children.

   Synonyms:

   season

2. To strengthen or toughen a material, especially metal, by heat treatment; anneal.
   • Tempering is a heat treatment technique applied to metals, alloys, and glass to achieve greater toughness by increasing the strength of materials and/or ductility. Tempering is performed by a controlled reheating of the work piece to a temperature below its lower eutectic critical temperature.
3. To adjust the temperature of an ingredient (e.g. eggs or chocolate) gradually so that it remains smooth and pleasing.
4. To sauté spices in ghee or oil to release essential oils for flavouring a dish in South Asian cuisine.
5. To mix clay, plaster or mortar with water to obtain the proper consistency.
6. To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.

See all 22 meanings of temper