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temple

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Temple is defined as a place where people worship.

(noun)

An example of a temple is a synagogue.

The definition of a temple is the flat area on the side of the head, in front of each ear.

(noun)

An example of the temple is the area to rub when someone has a tension headache.

See temple in Webster's New World College Dictionary

noun

1. a building for the worship of a divinity or divinities
2. anything viewed as the dwelling place of God or a divinity
1. any of the Jewish sacred edifices for worshiping Jehovah, successively built in ancient Jerusalem
2. a synagogue, esp. of a Reform or Conservative congregation
a church
either of two sets ( and ) of London buildings housing two of England's four principal law societies: their site was formerly occupied by the London branch of the Knights Templars
a building, usually of imposing size, etc., serving the public or an organization in some special way: a temple of art, a Masonic temple

Origin: ME < OE tempel & OFr temple, both < L templum, temple, sanctuary, orig., space marked out: for IE base see temper

Related Forms:

templed adjective

noun

either of the flat surfaces alongside the forehead, in front of each ear
☆ either of the sidepieces of a pair of glasses that fit across the temples and over the ears

Origin: OFr < VL tempula, altered < L tempora, the temples, pl. of tempus, akin to tempus, time (in reference to pulse): see temper

noun

a device for keeping the cloth in a loom stretched to its correct width during weaving

Origin: LME < MFr: see template

Temple, Sir William 1628-99; Brit. diplomat & writer

See temple in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

a. A building dedicated to religious ceremonies or worship.
b. Temple Either of two successive buildings in ancient Jerusalem serving as the primary center for Jewish worship.
c. Judaism A synagogue, especially of a Reform congregation.
d. Mormon Church A building in which the sacred ordinances are administered.
Something regarded as having within it a divine presence.
A building used for meetings by any of several fraternal orders, especially the Knights Templars.
A building reserved for a highly valued function: the library, a temple of learning.
Temple Either of two groups of buildings in London, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, that house two of the four Inns of Court and that occupy the site of the medieval Knights Templars establishment.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old English tempel

Origin: , from Latin templum; see tem- in Indo-European roots

noun

The flat region on either side of the forehead.
Either of the sidepieces of a frame for eyeglasses that extends along the temple and over the ear.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: , from Vulgar Latin *tempula

Origin: , from Latin tempora

Origin: , pl. of tempus, temple of the head

Word History: Words that are identical in form do not always derive from the same source, and when they have different sources they are usually considered different words. The temple that refers to a place of worship, for example, does not have the same origin as the temple that refers to a side of the forehead. The temple where one worships comes from Latin templum, itself derived from the Indo-European root *tem-, “to cut, divide.” Latin templum probably referred originally to the fact that temples were on sacred ground that was “divided” or separated from ordinary ground. The temple of the head comes from the Latin word tempus, “temple of the head.” Its origin is not certain; some have thought it to be a special use of the homonymous word tempus “time” as a translation of Greek kairios, “(proper) time, opportunity, vital spot,” but there is no hard evidence for this. What is known, and not uninteresting in itself, is how tempus eventually became temple in English. In Latin, the plural, tempora, was more frequently used than the singular tempus (it being more common to talk about paired body parts together rather than singly). There was a large class of Latin nouns ending in -a in the singular, and this led to a reinterpretation of tempora as a singular in later Latin, where it was also altered to *tempula. This became temple in Old French, whence English temple (of the head) was borrowed, first appearing in 1310. The classical Latin form survives in the English adjective temporal (as in temporal bone or temporal muscle).

noun

A device in a loom that keeps the cloth stretched to the correct width during weaving.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English tempille

Origin: , from Old French temple

Origin: , possibly from Latin templum, small piece of timber; see tem- in Indo-European roots

A city of central Texas south of Fort Worth. It is a processing and manufacturing center. Population: 55,000.

, Shirley

See Shirley Temple Black.

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