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WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026 tem•per /ˈtɛmpɚ/USA pronunciation
n.
a state of mind or feelings;[ countable ] [ uncountable ] calm disposition;[ uncountable ] Metallurgy [ uncountable ] v. [ ~ + object] to moderate;to temper justice with mercy. Metallurgy to give strength or toughness to (iron) by heating and cooling:to temper steel.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026 tem•per
(tem′ pər),USA pronunciation n.
a particular state of mind or feelings. habit of mind, esp. with respect to irritability or patience, outbursts of anger, or the like;an even temper. heat of mind or passion, shown in outbursts of anger, resentment, etc. calm disposition or state of mind:to be out of temper. a substance added to something to modify its properties or qualities. Metallurgy
the degree of hardness and strength imparted to a metal, as by quenching, heat treatment, or cold working. the percentage of carbon in tool steel. the operation of tempering. [ Archaic.] [ Obs.] v.t.
to moderate or mitigate:to temper justice with mercy. to soften or tone down. to bring to a proper, suitable, or desirable state by or as by blending or admixture. to moisten, mix, and work up into proper consistency, as clay or mortar. Metallurgy to impart strength or toughness to (steel or cast iron) by heating and cooling.Ceramics to produce internal stresses in (glass) by sudden cooling from low red heat;Music and Dance to tune (a keyboard instrument, as a piano, organ, or harpsichord) so as to make the tones available in different keys or tonalities.Fine Art to modify (color) by mixing with a medium.[ Archaic.] [ Archaic.] v.i.
to be or become tempered. Latin temperāre to divide or proportion duly, temper; (noun, nominal) Middle English: proportion, derivative of the verb, verbal (verb, verbal) Middle English tempren, Old English temprian bef. 1000 tem′ per•a•ble , adj. tem′per•a•bil′ i•ty , n. tem′ per•er , n. 1. nature, condition. 2. humor. See disposition. 3. irritation. 4. equanimity, coolness, composure. 10. See modify.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
temper /ˈtɛmpə / n a frame of mind; mood or humour a sudden outburst of anger; tantrum a tendency to exhibit uncontrolled anger; irritability a mental condition of moderation and calm (esp in the phrases keep one's temper, lose one's temper, out of temper ) the degree of hardness, elasticity, or a similar property of a metal or metal object vb (transitive ) to make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else; moderate : he tempered his criticism with kindly sympathy to strengthen or toughen (a metal or metal article) by heat treatment, as by heating and quenching to adjust the frequency differences between the notes of a scale on (a keyboard instrument) in order to allow modulation into other keys to make such an adjustment to the pitches of notes in (a scale) a rare word for adapt an archaic word for mix Etymology: Old English temprian to mingle, (influenced by Old French temprer ), from Latin temperāre to mix, probably from tempus time ˈtemperable adj ˈtemperer n
'quick temper ' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):