temple 1
— templed , adj. — templelike , adj.
/tem"peuhl/ , n.
1. an edifice or place dedicated to the service or worship of a deity or deities.
2. ( usually cap. ) any of the three successive houses of worship in Jerusalem in use by the Jews in Biblical times, the first built by Solomon, the second by Zerubbabel, and the third by Herod.
3. a synagogue, usually a Reform or Conservative one.
4. an edifice erected as a place of public worship; a church, esp. a large or imposing one.
5. any place or object in which God dwells, as the body of a Christian. I Cor. 6:19.
6. (in France) a Protestant church.
7. (in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) a building devoted to administering sacred ordinances, principally that of eternal marriage.
8. a building, usually large or pretentious, devoted to some public use: a temple of music.
9. ( cap. ) either of two establishments of the medieval Templars, one in London and the other in Paris.
10. ( cap. ) either of two groups of buildings (Inner Temple and Middle Temple) on the site of the Templars' former establishment in London, occupied by two of the Inns of Court.
11. a building used by the Templars in the U.S.
12. a building used by any of various fraternal orders.
[ bef. 900; ME, var. of tempel, OE templum space demarcated by an augur for taking auspices, temple ]
temple 2
/tem"peuhl/ , n.
1. Anat. the flattened region on either side of the forehead in human beings.
2. Zool. a corresponding region in certain animals.
3. Ophthalm. either of the sidepieces of a pair of eyeglasses extending back above and often around the ears.
[ 1275-1325; ME tempula, for L tempora the temples, pl. (taken as fem. sing.) of tempus temple ]
temple 3
/tem"peuhl/ , n.
a device in a loom for keeping the cloth stretched to the proper width during the weaving.
[ 1475-85; earlier tempylle temple templum purlin, small piece of timber. See TEMPLE 1 ]