temple

Noun

temple (plural temples)

2. A house of worship, especially:
   1. A house of worship dedicated to a polytheistic faith.

      The temple of Zeus was very large.

      • 1974, Donald R. DeGlopper, “Religion and Ritual in Lukang”, in Arthur P. Wolf, editor, Religion and Ritual in Chinese Society (Studies in Chinese Society)‎, Stanford: Stanford University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 46:

        As of October 1968 Lukang, which had a resident population of between 27,000 and 28,000 people, had 39 temples. It is my impression that Lukang has more temples than do most Taiwanese communities of equivalent size. By temple I mean a structure that houses an image, altar, and incense pot, and is freely accessible to the general public. In speaking of the 39 temples of Lukang, I am omitting the numerous small shrines to the unknown dead (Yu Ying Kung), buildings dedicated to ancestors rather than deities (two), Christian churches (four), incense-burner associations that keep their incense pot or image in private homes, and private shrines such as the domestic altars of tang-ki (spirit mediums) or the shrine of the now defunct Ch'üan-chou guild, found in the back room of a drugstore endowed with the guild property.[...]Lukang, seen in comparative perspective, has a lot of temples.

   2. (Judaism) Synonym of synagogue, especially a non-Orthodox synagogue.

      How often do you go to temple?

   3. (Mormonism) As opposed to an LDS meetinghouse, a church closed to non-Mormons and necessary for particular rituals.
3. A meeting house of the Oddfellows fraternity; its members.
4. (figurative) Any place regarded as holding a religious presence.
5. (figurative) Any place seen as an important centre for some activity.

   a temple of commerce; a temple of drinking and dining

6. (figurative) Anything regarded as important or minutely cared for.

   My body is my temple.

   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], lines 11–14:

     For nature crescent does not grow alone
     In thews and bulks, but as this temple waxes,
     The inward service of the mind and soul
     Grows wide withal.

7. (figurative) A gesture wherein the forefingers are outstretched and touch pad to pad while the other fingers are clasped together.
   • 2010, James LePore, A World I Never Made, page 251:

     Again Abdullah listened intently, his eyes closed, his ten fingers forming a temple of his hands in front of him.

Verb

temple (third-person singular simple present temples, present participle templing, simple past and past participle templed)

1. (transitive) To build a temple for; to appropriate a temple to; to temple a god
   • 1623, Owen Feltham, Resolves: Divine, Moral, Political:

     though the Heathen (in many places) Templed and adored this drunken God

Noun

temple (plural temples)

1. (anatomy) The slightly flatter region, on either side of the head of a vertebrate, including a human, behind the eye and forehead, above the zygomatic arch, and forward of the ear.
2. (ophthalmology) Either of the sidepieces on a set of spectacles, extending backwards from the hinge toward the ears and, usually, turning down around them.

Noun

temple (plural temples)

1. (weaving) A contrivance used in a loom for keeping the web stretched transversely.

Derived terms

• templer

Derived terms

• temple de la renommée
• templier

Descendants

• → Romanian: templu

Noun

temple oblique singular, m (oblique plural temples, nominative singular temples, nominative plural temple)

2. (anatomy) temple

Noun

temple oblique singular, m (oblique plural temples, nominative singular temples, nominative plural temple)

1. temple (building where religious services take place)

Synonyms

• templo m, tiemplo m

Noun

temple m (plural temples)

1. mood; humour (of a person)
   • 1897, Benito Pérez Galdós, Misericordia:

     Halló a Doña Paca de mal temple, porque se había parecido en la casa, muy de mañana, un dependiente de la tienda, y habíala insultado […]

     [She] found Doña Paca in a bad mood, because very early in the morning a shopkeeper showed up at the house, and had insulted her […]

2. mettle; courage; spunk
3. tempering
4. temperature
5. (music) tuning
6. (bullfighting) a move of the cape before a charge

Verb

temple

1. inflection of templar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative