noun middle state or course; mean; medium.
2. temper ·vt to govern; to manage.
3. temper ·vt to bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to temper iron or steel.
4. temper ·noun calmness of mind; moderation; equanimity; composure; as, to keep one's temper.
5. temper ·vi to have or get a proper or desired state or quality; to grow soft and pliable.
6. temper ·noun heat of mind or passion; irritation; proneness to anger;
in a reproachful sense.
7. temper ·vt to adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.
8. temper ·noun milk of lime, or other substance, employed in the process formerly used to clarify sugar.
9. temper ·vt to fit together; to adjust; to accomodate.
10. temper ·vi to accord; to agree; to act and think in conformity.
11. temper ·vt to moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as clay for making brick, loam for molding, ·etc.
12. temper ·noun constitution of body; temperament; in old writers, the mixture or relative proportion of the four humors, blood, choler, phlegm, and melancholy.
13. temper ·noun the state of a metal or other substance, especially as to its hardness, produced by some process of heating or cooling; as, the temper of iron or steel.
14. temper ·noun disposition of mind; the constitution of the mind, particularly with regard to the passions and affections; as, a calm temper; a hasty temper; a fretful temper.
15. temper ·noun the state of any compound substance which results from the mixture of various ingredients; due mixture of different qualities; just combination; as, the temper of mortar.
xvi. temper ·vt 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.