temple English · revision 5117

+ Temple, a building for worship, and temple, the side of the forehead, are different words from Latin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈtem.pəl/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|building}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 825|origins=la templum}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|temple]], [[inh|ang|tempel|alt=tempel, templ]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) [[bor|la|templum|t=piece of ground consecrated for taking the auspices; building for worship]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) reinforced in Middle English by Old French temple.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) The origin of the Latin word is uncertain.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Watkins refers it to [[ine-pro|*tem-|t=to cut]], as a place cut off, comparing Greek témenos “sacred precinct”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) while Klein and de Vaan derive it from a root *temp- “to stretch”, as a space measured out.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A building regarded as the dwelling place of a god: about 825 in the OED, in the Vespasian Psalter.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of the temples of the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans it is from 971,^(OED 1989) and of the Temple at Jerusalem from about 897.^(OED 1989) The figurative sense, any place where God is present, was already in Old English.^(Etymonline) A Christian church, especially a grand one, is from the late 14th century (1399 in the OED).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A synagogue is from the 1590s (1598 in the OED), now especially of Reform congregations.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) In France it names Protestant churches, from 1566.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The central place of Mormon worship is from 1858.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 825 – a building for worship.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 897 – the Temple at Jerusalem.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1399 – a Christian church.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1598 – a synagogue.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1858 – a Mormon temple.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A building used for the worship of a god or gods.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' Either of the two successive buildings in ancient Jerusalem that were the centre of Jewish worship.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[synagogue]], especially of a Reform congregation.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A building of the Mormon church.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ {{homograph|2|head}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1310|origins=la tempus}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|temple|alt=tempils, temple]], [[bor|fro|temple|t=side of the forehead]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from Vulgar Latin *tempula, from Latin [[m|la|tempora]], the plural of tempus “temple of the head”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The Latin word probably first meant the thin stretch of skin at the side of the forehead,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[ine-pro|*temp-|t=to stretch]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) A similar idea lies behind Old English ðunwange “temple”, literally “thin cheek”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The flat region on each side of the forehead: about 1310 in the OED, the early 14th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Barnhart has the plural tempils about 1340.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Either sidepiece of a pair of glasses, resting along the temple, is a later sense.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1310 – the side of the forehead.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The flat part on either side of the head between the forehead and the [[ear]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Either of the arms of a pair of glasses.^(AHD)

+

+ ==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.^(MWU 2024)^(AHD)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}