temple
pronunciation
How to pronounce temple in British English:
UK [ˈtempl]
How to pronounce temple in American English:
US [ˈtempl]
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- Noun:
- place of worship consisting of an edifice for the worship of a deity
- the flat area on either side of the forehead
- an edifice devoted to special or exalted purposes
- (Judaism) the place of worship for a Jewish congregation
Word Origin
- temple
- temple: Temple for worship [OE] and temple at the side of the head [14] are distinct words. The former was borrowed from Latin templum, which originated as a term relating to divination, used by priests in ancient times. It denoted a space marked out or ‘cut’ out as suitable for making observations on which auguries were based – some say a space marked out on the ground, others a section of the night sky.It probably came ultimately from the base *tem- ‘cut’, which also produced Greek témein ‘cut’ and the English suffix -tomy ‘surgical cutting’. It has found its way into most western European languages, including German, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish tempel and Welsh teml as well as the Romance languages. Temple ‘area at the side of the head’ comes via Old French temple from Vulgar Latin *tempula, an alteration of tempora, the plural of Latin tempus.This of course originally meant ‘time’ (English gets temporary from it), and it seems that the sense ‘area at the side of the head’ arose via an intermediate ‘appropriate time, proper period’, hence ‘right place (for dealing someone a fatal blow)’.=> tome; temporary
- temple (n.1)
- "building for worship, edifice dedicated to the service of a deity or deities," Old English tempel, from Latin templum "piece of ground consecrated for the taking of auspices, building for worship of a god," of uncertain signification. Commonly referred to PIE root *tem- "to cut" (see tome), on notion of "place reserved or cut out" [Watkins], or to root *temp- "to stretch" [Klein's sources], on notion of "cleared space in front of an altar" (see tenet). Compare Greek temenos "sacred area around a temple," literally "place cut off," from stem of temnein "to cut." Figurative sense of "any place regarded as occupied by divine presence" was in Old English. Applied to Jewish synagogues from 1590s.
- temple (n.2)
- "side of the forehead," mid-14c., from Old French temple "side of the forehead" (11c.), from Vulgar Latin *tempula (plural taken as fem. singular), from Latin tempora, plural of tempus (genitive temporis) "side of the forehead," perhaps originally "the thin stretch of skin at the side of the forehead," from PIE *temp- "to stretch," an extension of the root *ten- "to stretch" (see tenet), from the notion of "stretched," thus "thin," which is the notion in cognate Old English ðunwange, literally "thin cheek." Or possibly associated with tempus span "timely space" (for a mortal blow with a sword).
Example
- 1. Most visitors make for the eponymous central temple .
- 2. I found myself in an ancient temple .
- 3. The parade-ground scene is timeless , but the surrounding temple is not .
- 4. The temple is supported by massive columns .
- 5. Better than in the temple lost outright .