Etymograph

English

temporary

Temporary comes from Latin temporārius, from tempus ‘time’, whose deeper origin is disputed.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tempos1‘stretch (of time)’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtempus2‘time’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemporarius2‘of time; temporary’
  4. Englishtodaytemporary2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tempus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English temporary

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*temposWiktionary, Latin tempus‘stretch (of time)’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtempusWiktionary, English temporary‘time’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtemporariusWiktionary, English temporary‘of time; temporary’
  4. EnglishtodaytemporaryWiktionary, English temporary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with temporary, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

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

  • antenna ← *antitempnā
  • contemplate ← contemplātus ← contemplor ← templum
  • contemplation ← contemplacioun ← contemplatio ← contemplor ← templum
  • templar ← templāris ← templum

through Proto-Italic *tempos ‘stretch’

through Latin tempus ‘time’

58 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

adj Not permanent; existing only for a period or periods of time.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “temporary”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tempus. 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-Italic *tempos / temporary