Search the Dictionary

The act of tempering or modifying; adjustment, as of clashing rules, interests, passions, or the like; also, the means by which such adjustment is effected. Wholesome temperaments of the rashness of popular assemblies. Sir J. Mackintosh.

Habitual moderation in regard to the indulgence of the natural appetites and passions; restrained or moderate indulgence; moderation; as, temperance in eating and drinking; temperance in the indulgence of joy or mirth; specifically, moderation, and sometimes abstinence, in respect to using intoxicating liquors.…

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.

Freedom from passion; moderation. [Obs.] In that proud port, which her so goodly graceth, Most goodly temperature you may descry. Spenser.

g.: Any violent tumult or commotion; as, a political tempest; a tempest of war, or of the passions.

Susceptible of the softer passions, as love, compassion, kindness; compassionate; pitiful; anxious for another's good; easily excited to pity, forgiveness, or favor; sympathetic. The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James v. 11. I am choleric by my nature, and tender by my temper. Fuller.

rfuge; evasion. Writing is to be preferred before verbal conferences, as being freer from passions and tergiversations. Abp. Bramhall.

Accent, or inflection or modulation of the voice, as adapted to express emotion or passion. Eager his tone, and ardent were his eyes. Dryden.

To predominate; as, topping passions. "Influenced by topping uneasiness." Locke.

Hence, extreme; violent; surpassing. A man agitated by a towering passion. Sir W. Scott.

r ecstasy; as, music transports the soul. [They] laugh as if transported with some fit Of passion. Milton. We shall then be transported with a nobler . . . wonder. South.

Conveyed from one place to another; figuratively, carried away with passion or pleasure; entranced. -- Trans*port"ed*ly, adv. -- Trans*port"ed*ness, n.

A violent passion for the acquisition or cultivation of tulips; -- a word said by Beckman to have been coined by Menage.

rregular or confused motion; agitation; high excitement; as, the tumult of the spirits or passions.

Agitated, as with conflicting passions; disturbed. His dire attempt, which, nigh the birth Now rolling, boils in his tumultuous breast. Milton.

to turn good to evil, and the like. The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee. Deut. xxx. 3. And David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness. 2 Sam. xv. 31. Impatience turns an ague into a fever. Jer. Taylor.

ounds or incloses; to let loose; to open. [Obs.] I ought . . . to unbay the current of my passion. Norris.

he bridle, or as from the bridle; hence, unrestrained; licentious; violent; as, unbridled passions. "Unbridled boldness." B. Jonson. Lands deluged by unbridled floods. Wordsworth. -- Un*bri"dled*ness, n. Abp. Leighton.

o explain; as, to unfold one's designs; to unfold the principles of a science. Unfold the passion of my love. Shak.

le of being governed, ruled, or restrained; licentious; wild; unbridled; as, ungovernable passions. -- Un*gov"ern*a*bly, adv. Goldsmith.