Temple

Pronunciation

• enPR: tÄ•m'p(É™)l, IPA: /ˈtÉ›mp(É™)l/
• Rhymes: -É›mpÉ™l

From Middle English temple, from Old English templ, from Latin templum ("shrine, temple, area for auspices").

Full definition of temple

Noun

1. A building for worship.The temple of Zeus was very large.
2. (often capitalized) The Jewish temple of Jerusalem, first built by Solomon.
3. Something regarded as holding religious presence.
4. Something of importance; something attended to.My body is my temple.
5. (obsolete) A body.
• 1602, William Shakespeare, , act 1, scene 3, lines 11–14:For nature crescent does not grow aloneIn thews and bulks, but as this temple waxes,The inward service of the mind and soulGrows wide withal.
6. Hands held together with forefingers outstretched and touching pad to pad, with the rest of the fingers clasped.
• 2010, James LePore, A World I Never Made, Again Abdullah listened intently, his eyes closed, his ten fingers forming a temple of his hands in front of him.

Synonyms

• house of worship

Related terms

• temporal
• Templar

Verb

1. (transitive) To build a temple for; to appropriate a temple to.to temple a god

From Middle English temple, from Old French temple, from Latin tempora ("the temples"), plural of tempus ("temple, head, face") (see "temporal bone")

Noun

1. (anatomy) The slightly flatter region, on either side of the head, back of the eye and forehead, above the zygomatic arch and in front 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.

Related terms

• temporal

From Latin templum ("a small timber, a purlin"); compare templet and template.

Noun

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

Anagrams

• pelmet