3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Temper  \Tem"per\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Tempered};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Tempering}.]  [AS.  temprian  or  OF  temper,  F.  temp['e]rer, 
  and  (in  sense  3)  temper,  L.  temperare,  akin  to  tempus  time. 
  Cf  {Temporal},  {Distemper},  {Tamper}.] 
  1.  To  mingle  in  due  proportion;  to  prepare  by  combining;  to 
  modify,  as  by  adding  some  new  element;  to  qualify,  as  by 
  an  ingredient;  hence  to  soften;  to  mollify;  to  assuage; 
  to  soothe;  to  calm. 
 
  Puritan  austerity  was  so  tempered  by  Dutch 
  indifference,  that  mercy  itself  could  not  have 
  dictated  a  milder  system.  --Bancroft. 
 
  Woman!  lovely  woman!  nature  made  thee  To  temper  man: 
  we  had  been  brutes  without  you  --Otway. 
 
  But  thy  fire  Shall  be  more  tempered,  and  thy  hope 
  far  higher.  --Byron. 
 
  She  [the  Goddess  of  Justice]  threw  darkness  and 
  clouds  about  her  that  tempered  the  light  into  a 
  thousand  beautiful  shades  and  colors.  --Addison. 
 
  2.  To  fit  together;  to  adjust  to  accomodate. 
 
  Thy  sustenance  .  .  .  serving  to  the  appetite  of  the 
  eater,  tempered  itself  to  every  man's  liking. 
  --Wisdom  xvi. 
  21. 
 
  3.  (Metal.)  To  bring  to  a  proper  degree  of  hardness;  as  to 
  temper  iron  or  steel. 
 
  The  tempered  metals  clash,  and  yield  a  silver  sound. 
  --Dryden. 
 
  4.  To  govern;  to  manage.  [A  Latinism  &  Obs.] 
 
  With  which  the  damned  ghosts  he  governeth  And 
  furies  rules  and  Tartare  tempereth  --Spenser. 
 
  5.  To  moisten  to  a  proper  consistency  and  stir  thoroughly,  as 
  clay  for  making  brick,  loam  for  molding,  etc 
 
  6.  (Mus.)  To  adjust  as  the  mathematical  scale  to  the  actual 
  scale,  or  to  that  in  actual  use 
 
  Syn:  To  soften;  mollify;  assuage;  soothe;  calm. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Tempered  \Tem"pered\,  a. 
  Brought  to  a  proper  temper;  as  tempered  steel;  having  such 
  a  temper;  --  chiefly  used  in  composition;  as  a  good-tempered 
  or  bad-tempered  man;  a  well-tempered  sword. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  tempered 
  adj  1:  made  hard  or  flexible  or  resilient  especially  by  heat 
  treatment;  "a  sword  of  tempered  steel";  "tempered 
  glass"  [syn:  {treated},  {hardened},  {toughened}]  [ant: 
  {untempered}] 
  2:  adjusted  or  attuned  by  adding  a  counterbalancing  element; 
  "criticism  tempered  with  kindly  sympathy"  [ant:  {untempered}] 

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