tempera

American  

[tem-per-uh] / ˈtɛm pər ə /

noun

1. a technique of painting in which an emulsion consisting of water and pure egg yolk or a mixture of egg and oil is used as a binder or medium, characterized by its lean film-forming properties and rapid drying rate.

2. a painting executed in this technique.

3. a water paint used in this technique in which the egg-water or egg-oil emulsion is used as a binder.

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tempera British  

/ ˈtɛmpərə /

noun

1. a painting medium for powdered pigments, consisting usually of egg yolk and water

2. 1. any emulsion used as a painting medium, with casein, glue, wax, etc, as a base

   2. the paint made from mixing this with pigment

3. the technique of painting with tempera

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Etymology

Origin of tempera

1825–35; < Italian, short for ( pingere a ) tempera (painting in) distemper, derivative of temperare to mingle, temper; temper

Explanation

Tempera is a bright, fast-drying type of paint. Paintings done in tempera are extremely long-lasting—some as old as the first century CE have been found. Traditionally, tempera paints were mixed with egg yolk, which is why this type of paint is commonly called egg tempera. Egg is still used today, as well as other materials with similar consistencies. Serious painters almost always used tempera before oil paints became popular around 1500. While colors are vivid and long-lasting, a weakness of egg tempera is that it cracks easily and works best when it's applied to wood. The Latin root is temperare, "to mix colors."

Example Sentences

Venetian painting of the Renaissance is richly, radiantly colored, mainly because it is oil-based, unlike the Florentines’ water-based tempera, which yields a more chromatically subdued result.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

It includes “The Ghost of a Flea,” Tate’s rarely loaned, murky miniature painting in dark tempera and gold on hardwood panel starring a monstrous, human-insect hybrid looking hungrily into a bucket of blood.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2023

Once the primer dried, she painted over it with metallic silver tempera paint.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 14, 2022

Painted with egg tempera on calfskin parchment, they show close-ups of agricultural machinery in near primary colors.

From New York Times • May 5, 2022

When Leonardo is an apprentice, painters in Italy use tempera: water plus color plus egg yolk.

From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day

Related Words

• acrylic
• color
• cosmetic
• dye
• enamel
• latex
• makeup
• oil
• pigment
• stain
• varnish
• wax