temperament
UK /ˈtɛm.pə.ɹə.mənt/ · US /ˈtɛm.pɚ.ə.mənt/ noun
Forms temperaments
- noun A person's usual manner of thinking, behaving or reacting.
- noun A tendency to become irritable or angry.
- noun (music) The altering of certain intervals from their correct values in order to improve the moving from key to key.
- noun (psychology) Individual differences in behavior that are biologically based and are relatively independent of learning, system of values and attitudes.
- noun (obsolete) A moderate and proportionable mixture of elements or ingredients in a compound; the condition in which elements are mixed in their proper proportions.
- noun (obsolete) Any state or condition as determined by the proportion of its ingredients or the manner in which they are mixed; consistence, composition; mixture.
Synonyms
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English temperament, borrowed from Middle French tempérament, from Latin temperāmentum.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Internal constitution; state with respect to the relative proportion of different qualities, or constituent parts.
- noun Due mixture of qualities; a condition brought about by mutual compromises or concessions. [Obs.]
Etymology [L. temperamentum a mixing in due proportion, proper measure, temperament: cf. F. tempérament. See Temper, v. t.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “temperament”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details