Etymograph

English

contemper

Contemper comes from Latin contemperō ‘to temper’, from Proto-Italic *tempos ‘stretch’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *temp-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temp-1‘to stretch, string’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tempos2‘stretch’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemperō3‘to temper’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontemperō3‘to temper’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1658contemper3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *tempos
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin tempero
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English contemper
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall. […]. Chapter I: “Though earth hath engroſſed the name yet water hath…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*temp-Wiktionary, Proto-Italic *tempos‘to stretch, string’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*temposWiktionary, Latin tempero‘stretch’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemperōWiktionary, English contemper‘to temper’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcontemperōWiktionary, English contemper‘to temper’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1658contemperWiktionary, English contemper. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1658, Thomas Browne, Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall. […]. Chapter I: “Though earth hath engroſſed the name yet water hath…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *temp- ‘to stretch, string’

antenna, templar, 24 more

through Proto-Italic *tempos ‘stretch’

temporary, temple, tense, template, temporal, tempo, matin, tempura, 15 more

through Latin temperō ‘to temper’

temperature, temperament, temperate, temperance, tamper, tempera, 3 more

Today it means

verb To modify or temper; to allay; to qualify; to moderate or soften.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “contemper”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Italic *tempos, Latin tempero. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *temp- / contemper

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