tempered, a.
(ˈtɛmpəd)
[f. temper v. and n. + -ed.]
† 1. Brought to or having a proper or desired temper, quality, or consistence (usually by mixture of elements or mingling of qualities); hence, of an intermediate or moderate quality free from either extreme; temperate. Obs. except as below.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xliv. (Lucy) 288 Þat [pyk & brynstan] grewit hyre nomare Na It a tempryt bath ware. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 222 The fryste tokyn of good complexcion Is temperid flesshe betwene nesshe and harde, and namely be-twen lene and fatte. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1906) 9 It is good to serue God..and lyue tempered and moderat lyff. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 422 Leaving in the midst a court, open to the tempered aire. |
b. with adverbial qualification.
| 1638 Junius Paint. Ancients 284 To worke in us the impression of an excellently tempered complexion. 1726 Leoni Alberti's Archit. I. 101/2 Wine..kept in a dry cool place, always equally tempered. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 692 In the heaven above an excellently tempered climate. |
c. That has been brought to the required degree of hardness and elasticity, as steel; also said vaguely or poetically of other metals.
| 1655 Marquis of Worcester Cent. Inv. §85 Such..bolts..being made of tempered Steel. 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 699 The temper'd metals clash, and yield a silver sound. 1727 Gay Fables xii. 6 Some..head the darts with tempered gold. 1789 R. Hole Arthur v, No temper'd mail resists Fiacha's might. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iii. 271/1 The word ‘tempered’ (as applied to steel) should properly apply to all degrees of hardness denotable by colour in the colour test. |
d. Mixed or compounded in due proportion; worked up to a suitable consistency.
| 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 259 Delve of convenient Depth your thrashing Floor; With temper'd Clay then fill and face it o'er. 1707 Mortimer Husb. (1721) II. 255 Cover the Head of the Stock with temper'd Clay, or with soft Wax. 1778 R. Lowth Transl. Isaiah Notes 158 Bricks, made with tempered clay and chopped straw. |
e. Mus. That has been tuned or adjusted in pitch according to some temperament (sense 10).
| 1727–41 [see temper v. 15 b]. 1788 Cavallo in Phil. Trans. LXXVIII. 250 One may easily perceive, how small is the difference between the perfect fifths of the latter, and the tempered ones of the former. 1829–32 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) II. 139 Nobody denies that the different keys on tempered instruments have different qualities. 1875 Ellis tr. Helmholtz' Sensat. Tone iii. xvi. 510 We cannot..fail to recognise the influence of tempered intonation upon the style of composition. 1879 C. H. H. Parry in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 11/2 The larger intervals contained in the tempered octave are all to a certain extent out of tune. |
2. Constituted or endowed with a specified temper or disposition (in various senses of temper). a. Qualified by an adv.
| 1390 Gower Conf. I. 266 For his corage is tempred so, That thogh he mihte himself relieve, Yit wolde he noght an other grieve. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 119 He that is vertuous in the vertu of that force, is ay temperit that he excedis nocht. 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 162/2 It is so meruaylously tempered that a mouse may wade therin, and an Olyphaunt be drowned therin. 1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 143 Perseus (one better tempered, Then to behold a Virgine slaughtered, Without assayd reuenge). a 1628 F. Grevil Sidney (1907) 13 A quiet and equally tempered people. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 119 Children, sweetly tempered like their mother. 1839 Thirlwall Greece VI. xlv. 15 Indications that its form of government was not unhappily tempered. |
b. Qualified by an adj., so as to become a parasynthetic deriv. of temper n.: Having a temper of such a kind (mild-tempered = of mild temper).
(The 18th c. quots. show the gradual change from a.)
| 1680 Moxon Mech. Exerc. x. 178 Heavy unequal tempered Stuff. 1747 tr. Astruc's Fevers 169 A cold mild-tempered easy patient. 1747 Richardson Clarissa I. ii. 11 She aimed to be worse-tempered than ordinary. 1768 [see good-tempered]. 1788 A. Hughes Henry & Isabella I. 80 Lamented that so mild a tempered, pretty kind of woman, should be subject to his tyranny. 1796 C. Smith Marchmont III. 146 So unhappy a tempered woman. 1868 Farrar Seekers iii. i. (1875) 267 Controlled, modest, faithful, and even-tempered. 1901 Wide World Mag. VIII. 149/2 Hard at bargaining..and cross-tempered withal. |
3. Modified by the admixture or influence of some other element; seasoned; moderated, mitigated, allayed, toned-down; limited.
| 1654 Jer. Taylor Real Pres. 298 In a moderated proportion..wine is mingled with water, as the Spirit with a man. And he receivs in the Feast..tempered wine unto faith. 1763 J. Brown Poetry & Mus. v. 85 Sophocles appeared next; of a more sedate and tempered Majesty. 1791 Burke App. Whigs Wks. VI. 135 No man can be a friend to a tempered monarchy who bears a decided hatred to monarchy itself. 1794 Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho xliv, They proceeded to a third room with a more tempered step. 1828 D'Israeli Chas. I, I. vi. 157 At this crisis, the tempered wisdom of the Queen saved the nation. 1893 Westm. Gaz. 23 Mar. 2/3 He..listened to his tempered speech—it was a much milder note than on Tuesday. |