temple

1 of 2

noun (1)

tem·ple ˈtem-pəl

: a building for religious practice: such as

often capitalized : either of two successive national sanctuaries in ancient Jerusalem

: a building for Mormon sacred ordinances

: the house of worship of Reform and some Conservative Jewish congregations

: a local lodge of any of various fraternal orders

also : the building housing it

: a place devoted to a special purpose

a temple of cuisine

templed

ˈtem-pəld

adjective

temple

2 of 2

noun (2)

: the flattened space on each side of the forehead of some mammals including humans

: one of the side supports of a pair of glasses jointed to the bows and passing on each side of the head

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, in part going back to Old English tempel, templ, in part borrowed from Anglo-French temple, both borrowed from Latin templum "space of sky or land delimited orally by an augur, piece of ground used for taking auspices, sacred precinct, building consecrated to a deity," of uncertain origin

Note: Latin templum has been traditionally derived from the Indo-European verbal base tem- "cut" (see tome), on the assumption that the original templum was a space "cut out" by the augur; the suffix would presumably be -lo-, with the -p- secondary. Greek témenos "sacred precinct" has been compared. More recently templum as been associated with a putative *temp- "stretch, extend," assuming a further sense "measure" (see tempo); the templum would then be a space "measured" by an augur.

Noun (2)

Middle English, borrowed from Anglo-French, going back to Vulgar Latin *tempula, altered (with conformation to the suffix -ula) from Latin tempora, plural (taken as feminine singular) of tempus "side of the forehead, temple," of uncertain origin

Note: On the assumption that Latin tempor-, tempus "time" meant originally "stretch, extent" (see tempo) tempus "temple" has been taken as a semantic bifurcation of the same word, the temple of the head being the place where the skin is stretched tightly against the skull. Compare Old Norse þunn-vangi, Old High German dunnwangi "temple," literally, "thin-cheek."

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun (2)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of temple was before the 12th century

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temple

noun (1)

noun (2)

Synonyms

Word History

Phrases Containing temple

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