temperament
the combination of mental, physical, and emotional traits of a person; natural predisposition.
unusual personal attitude or nature as manifested by peculiarities of feeling, temper, action, etc., often with a disinclination to submit to conventional rules or restraints.
(old physiology) the combination of the four cardinal humors, the relative proportions of which were supposed to determine physical and mental constitution.
Music.
the tuning of a keyboard instrument, as the piano, organ, or harpsichord, so that the instrument may be played in all keys without further tuning.
a particular system of doing this.
Archaic. an act of tempering or moderating.
Archaic. climate.
Origin of temperament
1synonym study For temperament
Other words for temperament
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use temperament in a sentence
I’m curious if there’s any research on how a dog in daily life affects your trajectory, temperament, and so on.
Forget Everything You Know About Your Dog (Ep. 436) | Stephen J. Dubner | October 22, 2020 | FreakonomicsABA evaluators found that Barrett’s integrity, judicial temperament and academic charter “met the very high standards for appointment to the Supreme Court,” said Randall Noel, a Memphis attorney who led the review.
Barrett confirmation hearing day four: ‘We have the votes,’ McConnell says of nomination | Seung Min Kim, Donna Cassata, Karoun Demirjian | October 15, 2020 | Washington PostIn those cases, kids were able to connect with adults and peers throughout childhood regardless of temperament.
‘The Origins of You’ explores how kids develop into their adult selves | Bruce Bower | September 16, 2020 | Science NewsWestern societies, Mead concluded, had learned over time to associate specific temperaments with the social roles into which they placed the biological sexes.
Maybe just describe some either actions or temperament or handling of a term of a Fed chair in medium-recent history — last four or five, six decades, whatever — that you just particularly admire.
He throws every fiber of his being into each performance, altering his posture, elocution, temperament, and more.
Oscars 2015: The Daily Beast’s Picks, From Scarlett Johansson to ‘Boyhood’ | Marlow Stern | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTHe mistrusted the “shish-kebab temperament” of the conductor, the Armenian Alexander Melik-Pashayev.
Héctor's older brothers Arturo and Alfredo were men with the right temperament to preside over a multinational crime syndicate.
She was a little fairy and she flew around and she had a temperament.
The ‘Maleficent’ Screenwriter Also Wrote ‘The Lion King’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’ | Kevin Fallon | June 1, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTAs left-wing biographer Rick Perlstein grants, Goldwater was a man of color-blind temperament, conviction, and personal action.
The intellectual temperament finds voice in many great expressions, which are very Dante and also very Thomas, as Par.
The Mediaeval Mind (Volume II of II) | Henry Osborn TaylorThe truth is, the modern "problematische Natur" has no charms for a transparent and simple temperament like his.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayWe had yet to learn the temperament of a capital, where every half-hour produced a total change of the popular mind.
This was a very strong expression of approbation, and an uncommonly hearty welcome from a person of Mr. Sikess temperament.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles DickensMuch has been lost by adopting equal temperament, but more has been gained.
The Recent Revolution in Organ Building | George Laing Miller
British Dictionary definitions for temperament
/ (ˈtɛmpərəmənt, -prəmənt) /
an individual's character, disposition, and tendencies as revealed in his reactions
excitability, moodiness, or anger, esp when displayed openly: an actress with temperament
the characteristic way an individual behaves, esp towards other people: See also character, personality
an adjustment made to the frequency differences between notes on a keyboard instrument to allow modulation to other keys
any of several systems of such adjustment, such as just temperament, a system not practically possible on keyboard instruments, mean-tone temperament, a system giving an approximation to natural tuning, and equal temperament, the system commonly used in keyboard instruments, giving a scale based on an octave divided into twelve exactly equal semitones: See also just intonation
obsolete the characteristic way an individual behaves, viewed as the result of the influence of the four humours (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile)
archaic compromise or adjustment
an obsolete word for temperature
Origin of temperament
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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