temple

Temple, a building for worship, and temple, the side of the forehead, are different words from Latin.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtem.pəl/^[4]

temple¹ building

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English temple, inherited from Old English tempel, templ,^[5][1][2] borrowed from Latin templum (“piece of ground consecrated for taking the auspices; building for worship”),^[5][1][6] reinforced in Middle English by Old French temple.^[2][7] The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^[5][2] Watkins refers it to Proto-Indo-European *tem- (“to cut”), as a place cut off, comparing Greek témenos “sacred precinct”,^[5][1] while Klein and de Vaan derive it from a root *temp- “to stretch”, as a space measured out.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

A building regarded as the dwelling place of a god: about 825 in the OED, in the Vespasian Psalter.^[8][1]

Semantic evolution

Of the temples of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans it is from 971,^[8] and of the Temple at Jerusalem from about 897.^[8] The figurative sense, any place where God is present, was already in Old English.^[5] A Christian church, especially a grand one, is from the late 14th century (1399 in the OED).^[5][8] A synagogue is from the 1590s (1598 in the OED), now especially of Reform congregations.^[5][8] In France it names Protestant churches, from 1566.^[8][5] The central place of Mormon worship is from 1858.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 825 – a building for worship.^[8]
• c. 897 – the Temple at Jerusalem.^[8]
• 1399 – a Christian church.^[8]
• 1598 – a synagogue.^[8]
• 1858 – a Mormon temple.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A building used for the worship of a god or gods.
2. (often capitalized) Either of the two successive buildings in ancient Jerusalem that were the centre of Jewish worship.
3. A synagogue, especially of a Reform congregation.
4. A building of the Mormon church.

temple² head

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English tempils, temple, borrowed from Old French temple (“side of the forehead”),^[5][1][6] from Vulgar Latin *tempula, from Latin tempora, the plural of tempus “temple of the head”.^[5][1][2] The Latin word probably first meant the thin stretch of skin at the side of the forehead,^[5][1] from Proto-Indo-European *temp- (“to stretch”).^[5][3] A similar idea lies behind Old English ðunwange “temple”, literally “thin cheek”.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The flat region on each side of the forehead: about 1310 in the OED, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^[8][5] Barnhart has the plural tempils about 1340.^[1]

Semantic evolution

Either sidepiece of a pair of glasses, resting along the temple, is a later sense.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1310 – the side of the forehead.^[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The flat part on either side of the head between the forehead and the ear.
2. Either of the arms of a pair of glasses.

Related words

• Templar
• contemplate

Usage notes

A third temple, an instrument in a loom that keeps the cloth stretched to the right width, is perhaps from Latin templum “small timber”, according to MWU; it was in dialect use in the north of England.^[6][9][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
10. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)