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well-ˈtempered, ppl. a.
1.
†a. Having a good bodily ‘temperament’ or constitution. Obs.
1422Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. 220 Rede coloure tokenyth complexcion wel temperit. 1625K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis iii. xi. 189 His wel-tempered veynes. c1655A. Sydney in 19th Cent. (1884) Jan. 63 Like a strong well-tempered stomach. a1716South Serm. (1842) IV. 270 He sends them into the world with a well-tempered and rightly-disposed body.
b. Having a well-balanced mental temperament (obs.). In later use, good-tempered.
a1586Sidney Arcadia i. iii. (1912) 19 [Arcadia is noted for] the well tempered minds of the people. 1595Spenser Amoretti lxxxiv, Modest thoughts breathd from wel tempred sprites. 1633P. Fletcher Pisc. Eclog. vi. xx, Thy wel⁓temper'd soul. 1657J. Gauden in J. Watts Scribe etc., To Rdr. 3 One of the most learned, judicious, grave, and well tempered Divines in this County of Essex. 1691H. Maydman Nav. Spec. 199 Therefore, I wish him to furnish himself with a well-tempered Disposition, To be as Wise as a Serpent, and as Harmless as a Dove. 1710Norris Chr. Prud. viii. 347 Christian Wisdom..depends not so much upon great parts, as a willing and well-temper'd Mind. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conquer ii, Yet she appears to me a pretty well-tempered girl. 1852Grote Greece ii. lxxi. IX. 193 A discreet and well-tempered officer. 1883Harper's Mag. Mar. 538/2 Crowds were walking in the middle of the roadway—merry and well-tempered.
transf.1790G. Walker Serm. II. xxv. 216 Christianity is a mild, pleasant, and well-tempered religion.
†2. Of climate or season: Temperate. Obs.
1598Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. iii. Colonies 65 Well-tempered Sumater Sub-equinoctiall. 1601Mary Magd. Lament. vi. (Grosart) 123 A calme and bright well-tempred day. a1628F. Greville Sidney ii. (1652) 30 That well-tempered, though over-zealous, and superstitious Region of Italy.
3. a. Of steel: Brought to the right degree of hardness and elasticity.
1597C. Middleton Chinon (1925) 18 His well tempered sword. c1662in Verney Mem. (1907) II. 263 A well-tempered Turkish or Persian Scymeterre. 1697Dryden æneis xi. 734 His Back and Breast, Well temper'd Steel and scaly Brass invest. 1807Syd. Smith Lett. Catholics i. Wks. 1859 II. 136/2 No power in Europe, but yourselves, has ever thought..of asking whether a bayonet is Catholic, or Presbyterian, or Lutheran; but whether it is sharp and well-tempered. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art ii. 735 The pallet-knife, is mostly a thin well-tempered blade of steel.
fig.1662Gauden in Hooker's Wks. Ep. to King A 3 b, Agreeable to right Reason and true Religion (which makes this well-tempered Peice a file capable to break the teeth of any that venture to bite it). 1726–46Thomson Winter 676 That wit..which with Attic point And kind well-tempered satire, smoothly keen, Steals through the soul, and without pain corrects.
b. Of clay or mortar: Well mixed or compounded.
1746Francis tr. Horace, Epist. ii. ii. 9 Like Clay, well-temper'd with informing Skill, He may be moulded to what Shape you will. 1833Wauldby Farm Rep. 120 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, On this lime a bed of well-tempered clay is directly laid. 1860Ruskin Unto this Last ii. §28 The builder who lays good bricks in well-tempered mortar.
4. Mus. Tuned in equal temperament.
Only in renderings of G. das wohltemperirte Klavier, the title of Bach's double set of 48 Preludes and Fugues in all the keys. Cf. tempered 1 e.
1820tr. J. N. Forkel's Life John Sebastian Bach 93 The well-tempered clavichord; or preludes and fugues in all the keys. 1884Clara Bell & Fuller-Maitland tr. Spitta Bach II. 6 note, The Well-tempered Clavier. 1889Grove's Dict. Mus. IV. 482 The well-tempered Clavichord. |