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temporize

[tem-puh-rahyz]
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verb (used without object), tem·po·rized, tem·po·riz·ing.
  1. to be indecisive or evasive to gain time or delay acting.
  2. to comply with the time or occasion; yield temporarily or ostensibly to prevailing opinion or circumstances.
  3. to treat or parley so as to gain time (usually followed by with).
  4. to come to terms (usually followed by with).
  5. to effect a compromise (usually followed by between).
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Also especially British, tem·po·rise.

Origin of temporize

1570–80; < Medieval Latin temporizāre to hang back, delay, equivalent to Latin tempor- (stem of tempus) time + Medieval Latin -izāre -ize
Related formstem·po·ri·za·tion, nountem·po·riz·er, nountem·po·riz·ing·ly, adverbnon·tem·po·riz·ing, adjectivenon·tem·po·riz·ing·ly, adverb
Can be confusedtemporalize temporize

Synonyms

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1. hedge, stall, equivocate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for temporize

Historical Examples

  • She was anxious to temporize, for she did not see how to answer her appeal.

    Weighed and Wanting

    George MacDonald

  • They might temporize with their own consciences, but not with public opinion.

    Mary Wollstonecraft

    Elizabeth Robins Pennell

  • It is hard to temporize when confronted with a businesslike silence.

  • She tried to temporize, but the more she eluded him the more insistent he became.

  • Thus Blake tried to temporize, so that he might think what was best to do.

British Dictionary definitions for temporize

temporize

temporise

verb (intr)
  1. to delay, act evasively, or protract a discussion, negotiation, etc, esp in order to gain time or effect a compromise
  2. to adapt oneself to the circumstances or occasion, as by temporary or apparent agreement
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Derived Formstemporization or temporisation, nountemporizer or temporiser, noun

Word Origin

C16: from French temporiser, from Medieval Latin temporizāre, from Latin tempus time
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for temporize

v.

1550s (implied in temporizer), from Middle French temporiser "to pass one's time, wait one's time" (14c.), from Medieval Latin temporizare "pass time," perhaps via Vulgar Latin *temporare "to delay," from Latin tempus (genitive temporis) "time" (see temporal). Related: Temporized; temporizing.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper