Etymologically
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temperamentum

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [tɛm.pɛ.raːˈmɛn.tũː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [tem.pe.raˈmɛn.tum][1]

Forms

temperāmentum n (genitive temperāmentī); second declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin temperō (“to blend, moderate”) + -mentum.[2][1] De Vaan explains temperō as a verb Proto-Italic *tempes-āje- built on tempus, from Proto-Italic *tempos- (“stretch, measure”) and Proto-Indo-European *temp-os (“stretch”); the verb's sense of restraining and modifying shows the shift from stretching to measuring.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero has it first, in the De legibus, of a compromise by which the humbler citizens thought themselves equal to the leading men.[2][4][5]

Semantic evolution

It is a blend of things in due proportion, as Pliny the Elder says of a material that differs only in its mixture, and the consistency so reached.[2][4] Columella uses it of a mild temperature between heat and cold.[2] In conduct it is a compromise or mean, and moderation or balance, as Valerius Maximus praises Scaevola's restraint.[2] Lewis & Short note that it is mostly post-Augustan, where Cicero usually says temperātiō.[4] In medieval texts it means temperament or character, and also rule or control.[6][1] English took it as temperament in the late 14th century, first for a proportioned mixture of elements.[7]

Timeline

  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of a political compromise.[2][5]
  • 1st century AD – Columella of a temperate warmth.[2][5]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder of a mixture in due proportion.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – English temperament is borrowed from it.[7]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A mixture in due proportion, blend; consistency.[2][4][1]
  2. A mean between heat and cold, mild temperature.[2][4]
  3. A compromise between extremes.[2][8]
  4. Moderation, restraint, balance.[2][1]
  5. (Medieval Latin) Temperament, disposition, character.[6][1]
  6. (Medieval Latin) Rule, control.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson