tempérer

Forms

tempérer^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin temperō (“to combine in due proportion, regulate, moderate”).^[2][3][4][5] The past participle tempered (“moderate, restrained”) is found in 1119, but only in isolated records; the verb itself is recorded from 1540.^[2][3] In these senses Old French mostly used temprer, the inherited form that became tremper.^[2][3][4] Wiktionary instead treats the word as the Old French verb respelled after the Latin, while noting the TLFi's view of it as a learned borrowing.^[1]

The origin of the Latin verb is not clear: Rey finds a link with Latin tempus (“time”) hard on the side of meaning, unless the noun is taken as a cut of time and the verb compared with French couper used of diluting wine;^[3] Bloch and Wartburg and the Grand Robert take the noun in the sense of weather or a favourable time.^[4][6]

Cognate with Old Occitan temprar, Spanish temperar, Portuguese temperar and Italian temperare.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119) the past participle tempered means “moderate, restrained, wise”.^[2][3] The verb first appears in 1540, in Herberay des Essarts's Amadis de Gaule, meaning “to moderate, ease” (temperer vos peines).^[2]

Semantic evolution

The verb was first used in the moral field, and since the 16th century for moderating an excess of heat or cold.^[3] Older usage also had it for weakening a liquid by mixing, as wine with water (1545),^[2][3] and kept until the 17th century the Latin sense “to mix, measure out”.^[3][4] Since the 17th century the reflexive se tempérer has meant “to calm down” (1662, Molière's la bile se tempère; 1690).^[2][3]

The participle tempéré, used as an adjective, is said today mostly of climate (temps tempéré, 1538) and of the zone where that climate prevails (zone tamperée, 1636).^[2][3] In music système tempéré (1742) names a scale in which neighbouring sharps and flats are replaced by one intermediate note, as in Bach's Clavier bien tempéré.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1119 – The past participle tempered “moderate” in Philippe de Thaon's Comput.^[2]
• c. 1380 – Temporeiz in Jean d'Outremeuse, again an isolated record.^[2]
• 1538 – Temps tempéré “mild weather”.^[2]
• 1540 – The verb temperer “to moderate” in the Amadis de Gaule.^[2][3]
• 1545 – Used of wine cut with water.^[2]
• 1636 – Zone tamperée in Monet's dictionary.^[2]
• 1662 – Reflexive use in Molière's École des femmes.^[2][3]
• 1742 – Système tempéré in music.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (dated) To weaken a drink or fluid by mixing: tempérer du vin avec de l'eau.^[8][2]
2. To make a climate or heat milder; to temper.^[8][2]
3. (figurative, literary) To moderate, soften or tone down: tempérer son enthousiasme.^[8][7]
4. (reflexive) se tempérer: to calm down, grow milder.^[2][3]

Word family

• intempéré
• tempéré

Related words

• tremper
• tempérance
• tempérant
• Latin temperō

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 13/1, 175a
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert